Modern Matchmakers
by half broken moon
Summary: Reid, Garcia, and Prentiss have lunch in a cute little coffee shop. Suddenly, Reid's old past comes out to surprise him and everyone else. How will the gang react to Reid's not so little secret? past R/OC and R/H later on.
1. coffee talk

I want to thank those who commented on my other fics! They helped me get out off this zombie slump. I was about to eat a rancid brain but your comments brought me back to life. Thanks! This fic wont be an OC/anyone. If I play my cards right, it'll be H/R because I wanted to try something a little different and it's fun.

I don't own Criminal Minds because if I did I would totally put a bounce house somewhere.

Please enjoy : )

* * *

"God it's c-cold!" Garcia huddled into her thick nautical coat and began walk as fast as her vintage purple boots could take her. "I hate January. I'm more of an April girl."

Reid and Prentiss caught up with her. Both glanced at the frozen sidewalk ahead and wondered when the 'special place that makes Starbucks coffee look like drain fluid' was coming up. They were all freezing. Reid especially even though he had a thick black pea coat on. Something J.J. bought him a few years back to replace that tacky long coat that made him look like a time traveler on crack.

"Here we are!" Garcia bounced and pointed at the small café with jazz hands. "Tada!"

"Ooh," Emily rubbed her hands together in delight. They both walked in the store and it was… different. The tables still had their tree like features and there were twinkling LED lights on the walls. "Looks cute and cozy. Was this made in magical fairytale land?" Prentiss pointed at the gnome on the window.

"Gnomes are," Reid began one of his lectures but he had an inkling that the two women didn't want to hear any of it. The inkling was both girls crossing their arms and gave them the 'oh no you aren't just about to do what I think you're going to do' glare. He slowly closed his mouth then quirked an apologetic smile, "Sorry. It's cute."

Garcia gasped dramatically, "Holy crackers! Reid! You stopped yourself from ranting."

Reid rubbed his arm trying to warm himself and to keep away the bashfulness at the same time. Prentiss patted his back to encourage the young man to keep moving. The genius did exactly that. He sped up to the counter and ordered his coffee, "Do you have any extra sugar packets?" he asked the barista. Garcia and Emily chuckled before they found a good table to sit.

"Aren't you going order anything?" Prentiss asked the techno pixie who sat in front of her.

"I will once they restock the sugar packets," Garcia giggled, "I know the owner. We used to date a while back and he always grabs my order. I'm special that way."

"You should've told Dr. Caffeine before he scared the barista," Prentiss giggled, pointing at the now bubbly Reid cupping his beloved drink.

Garcia rolled he eyes but amused by Reid's enthusiasm, "Never got the chance to tell him. You saw how fast he ran toward the counter. Geez."

A middle aged man that looked like he could be Rossi's younger brother walked up to them and flashed them a welcoming smile, "Hello Penelope."

"Hi Stuart!" Garcia got up and gave him a hug, "What's the special today?"

"For you my dear, anything you want is free. That includes your friends," Stuart said.

Reid looked rather bummed when he realized he already bought his coffee. Stuart noticed the young man's pout and gave a friendly wink, "Don't worry sir, I'll give you a cinnamon roll on the house."

"I like cinnamon rolls," Reid's face brightened like a two year old on Christmas morning. Stuart nodded kindly then walked away.

"You're so cute when you get all child like Reid," Garcia clutched her hands together and placed them next to her cheek. Reid pouted comically, feigning the hurt in his eyes.

"Before sour puss decides to strangle us," Emily leaned closer to Garcia, "So what's the story with Stuart? He seems like a really nice guy."

Reid took a drink form his sugar laced coffee. He could see Stuart help a fresh faced barista on how to work the register. Stuart was patient and seemed almost fatherly. Kind of like a young Santa Clause, Reid thought.

"Oh it's one of those relationships where we were better off as friends," Garcia smiled a little, "He's such a sweetheart but he doesn't give me that whole thump thump thump your heart is going to fly off your chest kind of feeling."

Prentiss leaned back in her chair, "I know what you mean. The part where you get obsessive and can't stop thinking about him? Where even the smallest touch gives you this tingling feeling?"

"Don't forget the passionate animalistic sex," Garcia pointed out as a matter of fact. Reid chocked on his hot coffee and his eyes began to water because of the burning pain. The girls glanced at each other and grinned.

"What Reid?" Prentiss slid closer to her recovering friend, "You never got that tingling feeling?"

Reid stood still with his brow furrowed. Panic settled on his eyes. He soon noticed the two giving him curious and expected looks. To his right, Garcia was biting her red lips. To his left, Prentiss's eyes seemed to bulge a little. Like she's trying really hard to read his mind. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, "Uh… yeah… suuure."

"Was it Lila?" Garcia asked flatly. She obviously didn't like her. "Hm?"

Reid shook his head, "No! She was used to having all this attention and she was just isolated. A-and… she initiated that… please don't ask Prentiss I'm sure Garcia told you about it."

"Every juice detail," Prentiss crossed her arms looking satisfied. Before Prentiss began her interrogation, Stuart reappeared with their drinks and food. "For the lovely ladies and the nice gentleman."

"Thank you," they all said as they received their orders. Reid was the most thankful out of the three but suppressed his joy so the she-wolves couldn't smell it and began to attack again.

"Will that be all?" Stuart asked. The three shook their heads and thanked him again. Stuart smiled kindly, "If you want anything else don't be afraid to ask."

Garcia danced in her seat in excitement, "Hey Emily," the tech motioned to the line of people ordering their drinks, "Check out that hot tottie."

All three friends turned to that direction to spot a tall dark haired man with chiseled features wearing a long black winter coat standing only a few feet away from the counter. Reid still had his cinnamon roll hanging in his mouth.

"My my my," Prentiss laughed to herself, "Someone shoot me. I think I channeled Morgan."

The man turned around again and the two women Ooh'd and Aah'd. Reid on the other hand, squeaked and hid his face with a napkin. The doctor kicked himself mentally. 1. Did he just squeak? 2. Did he subconsciously hide himself behind a napkin? And 3. Did both actions unintentionally grab everyone in the café's attention? Reid slowly peeked out of the napkin and confirmed his suspicions. Great.

"Spencer?" The man Garcia and Prentiss were drooling over cocked his head and took a few steps closer to the group. The girls' eyes grew wide with hope, curiosity, and exhilaration. This guy could as easily be mistaken for a famous actor, with dark brown wavy hair and large light blue eyes.

"Spencer Reid?" he chuckled and was now a few feet away from the genius who by now, put the napkin down on the table. "That is you! Hi!"

Reid forced a smile and waved ungracefully, "H-hi Nick," he stood and brought out his hand for Nick to shake. Nick shook back and smiled warmly.

"It's been a long time," Reid said.

"It sure is," the man had a deep British accent. That realization caused the girls' eyes to graduate to hub cap size. "Are these your friends?"

"Yeah," Reid blushed, "This is Emily Prentiss and Penelope Garcia. They're my friends and also happen to be my co-workers at the FBI."

Nick's jaw dropped to the floor, "FBI? You're a bloody Fed?" Nick chuckled but soon noticed his rude behavior, "Oh sorry ladies," he began to shake their hands, "I'm Nicolas Brahms. Reid's ex-boyfriend from our Caltech days. It's nice to meet you."

"Ex-B-boyfriend?" Garcia was shocked in the first second when she heard the word 'ex-boyfriend'. Now she was squealing and clasping her hands together in pure delight. At this point, Reid wanted to die. Prentiss was immobilized.

"My, aren't you adorable? If I weren't into cute men I'd ask you out in a second," Nick playfully winked. Garcia let out a girly giggle, "Oh you."

Nick turned his attention back to Reid who was now completely red, "I'm sorry to interrupt your lunch Spencer," He handed out his business card, "We should talk sometime okay? Catch up a little."

Reid nodded and took the card gently, "Okay," he gave Nick his own card, "That'll be nice."

Nick patted Reid on the shoulder and gave him a warm happy grin, "Yep. It was nice meeting you again… I'll let you have your lunch," Nick backed away a little, "Have a nice day," He flashed one last grin and continued to his spot in the line that just started to move.

Prentiss was still immobilized. Garcia had a stupid grin on her face. Reid sat back on his chair and exhaled, waiting for what he expected an A-bomb of a reaction.

…

"Reid!" Garcia grabbed his hand and shook it, "Seriously? Oh my god oh my god oh my god. How did you get such a catch? So many questions I don't know where to start."

"Can we leave now?" Reid pushed his cinnamon roll away from his body. He thinks he wont be able to have cinnamon rolls in a long time. "Please?"

"Of course of course!" Garcia hurriedly gathered her things then grabbed Reid's arm, dragged him to the door. Prentiss snapped out of her stupor and realized that Garcia could just as easily drive back to the office without her. "Oh crap!" She ran out after them.

* * *

Rossi peeked out from Hotch's window and raised a thick eyebrow, "What is this?"

Garcia was pissed. She was speeding through the bullpen and then to her office with Reid and Prentiss far behind her. Reid looked hurt and was about to withdraw. Prentiss stood by Reid and tried to comfort her fellow agent with coffee and a kit-kat. Reid kindly refused the two.

"What are you looking at?" Hotch stacked some folders that were a little too disorganized for his taste and placed them in a neat order.

Rossi turned around and had a puzzled expression on his face, "Looks like our children had a fight during lunch."

Hotch sighed, "Please stop referring the rest of the team as 'our children', and which ones?"

"Garcia and Reid," Rossi turned to look back out the window. Reid looked like he was in deep despair with his head on his desk. Morgan showed up and tried to cheer him up with a Mars bars this time. Rossi wondered where the team was getting all this candy. "Looks like it was pretty brutal. Garcia probably sucked his soul dry."

"That's odd," Hotch snapped from his organizing ritual and frowned, "They occasionally get into little arguments but a fight? Must be something really important."

"Looks like Garcia found out," Rossi chuckled.

"What?" Hotch asked.

Rossi smirked, "Nothing."

Hotch walked up to see the scene down below. Reid did look like he was about to fade away into nothingness. J.J. was next to him this time and rubbed his back gently. She grabbed some Nerds candy from her coat pocket and presented it to Reid. Reid only pushed it away from his desk. "This does look serious."

* * *

Reid couldn't concentrate on his paperwork. He scrunched up his face when Garcia's words of, "Don't you trust me?" echoed in his ears. Also the fact that Nick's sudden re-appearance brought out a lot of old wounds that he thought were gone. _Old wounds apparently become fresh new wounds if hit at the same place._ Reid clutched his head. _That didn't make any sense! _

He let out an exasperated sigh and stared at his paperwork again. The young genius smiled when an old memory sprung up from out of the shadows of his mind. Something to keep the gloominess away. He had to try.

It was a bright warm day in Pasadena. Then again, it was always bright and warm and you couldn't stop it if you had the power to. Reid was sitting on the bus bench waiting for his route to finally appear. It was his luck that it was the bus took thirty minutes to come by. He cursed his route. Either way, it gave him time to relax and focus on his reading.

While he was reading he tried to avoid the looks he would get every time he turned a page every minute or so. Sometimes he could ignore them if the story was a very good one that made it easy for him to escape into. This wasn't one of those books.

Turn.

Turn.

Turn.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to read my book and I don't appreciate you staring at me like a circus animal," Reid placed his book down and glared at his neighbor.

The young man blinked when he found out he was caught staring, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare… I guess I did it with out knowing," he chuckled.

"That's okay, I get that a lot," Reid opened the book again and focused on the words in front of him.

Turn.

"Sorry but," the man spoke again, "I'm guessing you're a student here. You're one of those people with eidetic memory am I right?"

"Correct," Reid put his book down and grinned, "It's nice not having to explain myself. You're a student too I'm guessing."

The young man flashed the brightest smile Reid ever saw, "Yep, I am." He was indeed very handsome in that if you're into scruffy white British boys kind of way. Before the young genius found out that the British boy was a student at Caltech, he could have passed for a musician or an artist. "I'm working on my Masters for psychology here. Then I'm hoping to become a doctor later on."

"Psychology?" Reid perked up, "I actually have my Doctorate in that subject. I really love psychology. Who are your favorite pioneers? I'm partial to Carl Jung and his theory on collective unconsciousness. He believed that anything with a nervous system had the capability to have an unconscious mind. Freud called it the Id I believe."

"Really?" the Brit was shocked, "How old are you? Bloody hell."

"Er," Reid blushed, "I'm 19..."

The brit's mouth flew open and bobbed his head forward, "No way! I'm 26 and I've been in school for ages. You're making me feel bad," he laughed. His laughter stopped once he notice Reid's shoulders slump and looked a little dejected.

"I'm sorry…" the genius whispered.

"No,no,no,no,no!" he shook his hands in panic, "It's great that you're a doctor at that age. I meant it as a joke I promise," he then sighed, "My name is Nick Brahms. What's yours?"

Reid lifted his head up, "I'm Spencer Reid," he drew a smile on his face again.

Nick was relieved, "It's nice to meet you Spencer. Lets be friends from now on," Nick placed an open hand in front of him.

"Okay," Reid took the hand and shook it.

Reid let his head land on his desk pretty hard. Even a warm fuzzy memory couldn't stop him from moping around.

What did he do wrong to deserve such punishment? The guilt he felt when he saw everyone in the bullpen feel sorry for him didn't help either. "If you're going to punish me universe. You might as well kill me now. A meteor falling from the sky would satisfy your insatiable thirst," Reid said quietly to himself.

"Not before I get to you first," Garcia glared down at the pathetic looking genius. He blinked a questioning look at her. "Are you and the universe working together? I should have known."

"I may be a goddess but I can't be everywhere at once. Well… actually I can," she giggled, "The one place I can't see is inside that brain of yours Reid. Come to my office after work. We need to talk."

We need to talk. Four of the most terrifying words of the English language. Reid had to force his feet to walk right after he finished his paper work and is now heading towards Garcia's cave of doom. Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other was the only way he could keep himself from having a panic attack. He didn't want to see Garcia's angry face again and all the things that came with it. "Meteor sounds good about now."

He finally opened her door and saw Garcia in her natural state. She didn't notice him walking in until he closed the door behind him. "Well well well," Garcia turned around slowly, her red lips smirking back at him. She snaps her fingers and to Reid's surprise, the lights dimmed around him.

"…" Reid inhaled and found a seat so he could flop into and hopefully feel his soul leave his body. To his dismay it didn't. "I didn't mean to keep it a secret. I didn't mean to."

"Why did you?" Garcia's anger melted away once she saw doleful brown eyes meet hers. "Reid. Spencer," she slid her chair closer to her friend and placed a gentle hand on his own hand. "You can tell me everything. You know that. Everything you say in this room will be in confidence. Also, I'll never stop being your friend."

"I know," Reid smiled slightly. "I'm sorry that I never told you about me being attracted to men."

"That's okay. I'm not angry anymore, just disappointed in myself. I mean, I have like a billion gay friends!" She gave Reid the tightest hug she could, "You are like my baby brother Reid. Seriously, how the hell did you manage to pull it off?"

"They don't call me a genius for nothing," He smirked weakly, "Please don't tell anyone. I know you wont but… You know…"

Garcia patted Reid's head and gave him one of her chocolates from a box Kevin gave her, "Kiddo, as far as I'm concerned you have nothing to worry about. The team would understand completely. What I don't get is why you hid it for so long."

"It's not that I'm ashamed or anything really," Reid's lips thinned, "I'm already the resident nerd of the building and I have been at the tail end of a lot of playful teasing. I know they're not mean spirited at all but, I don't want to add another label on my head."

"Oh you," Garcia smacked him a little, "I get what you mean pumpkin. My lips are sealed… this just means…"

"Garcia." Reid warned.

"This meeeeaaans."

"No."

"I get to play matchmaker!"

"Oh god."

The universes is cruel.

Tbc

* * *

Matchmaker matchmaker make me a match. Hahaha, god nothing is worse than running into an old ex in some random place. I seriously wanted to choke someone.

Many of the these are based on my terrible experiences with love. I'm just that unlucky haha. T_T


	2. high tech meddler

Again thank you all for the reviews! They keep my butt in line mhm. Sorry if it gets a little OOC my brain isn't a good filter for most things. I tried not to make it though.

I don't own Criminal Minds, people! The only thing I know is a wicked cool play list and that's it.

* * *

Hotch found himself in the break room with Morgan and Reid chatting about something random and not important. The youngest man looked like his old self again. His arms were animated and his eyes were wide and passionate in whatever topic he was talking about. Knowing Reid it was either something about books or science.

"Did you know…" Reid began, "Garden gnomes were first made in the early 1800's in Germany? They were first made out of clay and…"

Hotch laughed inwardly. He was wrong, it was about gnomes. How random. Although Reid was always known to be the most random one of the team. Random or not, Hotch was glad to see the young doctor happy again. Well, he was. Morgan didn't want to hear about the history of gnomes and how they stopped producing them in the first world wars.

"I see you and Garcia made up," Hotch swooped in and saved Morgan from Reid's gnome rant. Reid snapped his head towards his boss and lost his concentration. "Oh," Reid smiled once he processed the simple question. "Yeah, everything is okay. How did you know she was angry at me?"

"Dude," Morgan chuckled, "Everybody could tell. When Garcia gets angry we all feel it."

"Oh," Reid felt a little guilty, "Sorry."

"So what was it about? What did you do to cause incur the wrath of my baby girl?" Morgan just had to ask. Reid cursed how nosy his friend was and why couldn't he just butt out.

"Well… I…" Reid panicked and tried to formulate a lie but for some reason he could only picture that stupid garden gnome at the coffee shop. Stupid gnome!

"It's none of your business. That's what," Garcia appeared like an angel from above. Despite her red sexy pumps.

"Good morning baby girl," Morgan winked at Garcia who was now standing in front of Reid. She crossed her arms then leaned her head back in a threatening manner, "Were you bothering my junior-G man?"

"We are all just curious to know what happened," Morgan said. "Right Hotch? Hotch?"

Hotch left.

"Dammit, thrown to the wolves."

"Who are you calling a wolf?"

"I'm making things worse aren't I?"

"Yes," Garcia brought out a sly grin to play. "Lets change the subject shall we?"

Reid was forever thankful. He was lucky to have Garcia look out for him and that reassured him that Garcia was serious about keeping his secret. He also knew however, that she'll urge him to come out to Morgan and everyone else at some point. Only right now, he'll just focus on keeping things low key.

"It's good that both of you are on good terms," Hotch reappeared once Garcia and Morgan took their argument elsewhere. Reid was so used to Hotch popping in and out of places that it didn't scare him anymore. He remembered the first time almost gave him a heart attack.

Reid smiled, "Yes me too. I don't do well on fights."

Hotch smiled back, "Fighting with someone who's like a sibling is always a chore. I know. I had a feeling you'd patch things up quickly with her," then left as quickly as he appeared.

"…" Reid walked up to the coffee machine and leaned himself on the counter. Hotch smiling this early in the morning was pretty rare, not unheard of. Reid brushed his own brown locks away as he looked at his own reflection on the coffee pot. Hotch has been smiling a lot recently. He was happy to see his boss be able to feel like his old self again. At the same time, Reid will have to be more cautious again. That smile was a visceral bullet.

J.J. walked by and gave Reid a megawatt smile. Reid returned the favor and went back to the work waiting for him. Things are looking okay so far.

* * *

2 Weeks later….

"Oooh," Garcia and Prentiss were huddled together in Garcia's 'temple of solace' and began their little scheme. They decided to have a little secret meeting after work to do a little brainstorming. "I wonder how many exes our wonder boy had in the past," Garcia wondered.

"If that guy was any indication then his other exes must look like Brad Pitt," Prentiss crossed her legs together and supported his head on her hand, "Or Daniel Craig."

"My head is swimming," Garcia danced a little in her seat, "What if he was with a hot sexy Professor who looked like Don Draper and had a steamy student teacher affair? In the end, Reid had to break it up because he was worried about his hunky Professor getting fired if anyone found out. Even now the Professor has a picture of our sweet little G-man enjoying life and he stares at it every night while he drinks a glass of scotch."

"Garcia please stop,," Prentiss pinched the bridge of her nose as she imagined Garcia's little spastic story, "God what is wrong with us?"

"Nothing," Garcia looked at her straight in the eye, "Nothing is wrong with us."

"I believe you," Prentiss nodded, "So why did you bring me here in the first place? I'm sure it wasn't to daydream about genius's private life and embarrass ourselves."

"Right right," Garcia grabbed her favorite sparkly pen and used to it press enter on her keyboard, "Tada! I want to introduce you to the Reid Matcher 3000. Something I cooked up on my free time."

"What does it do?"

"Glad you asked," Garcia smirked, "The Reid Matcher 3000 matches all qualified single gay males to our little Spencer Reid's love profile. It's very high tech and spiffy."

Prentiss hummed as she leaned closer to the screens, "Wouldn't it be easier to make a profile at a dating website?"

"Pish posh. Our genius deserves the best and this is way more high tech and accurate than those piss poor things you call dating sites," Garcia enlarged the Reid Matcher 3000 window on her screen, "You insult me."

"I just don't want you to get in trouble that's all," Prentiss frowned at a not so recent memory, "Remember what happened that night you got shot? You got suspended."

"Don't worry girl," Garcia unraveled an evil grin, "I got it covered. Anyway how about we start with…. This guy?"

"Nice," Prentiss smirked, "How about you make me a Prentiss Matcher 5.0?"

"I'm going to have to charge you though."

"What? Why? Reid doesn't even know you're doing this."

"That's because he's shy and oh so very sweet. You have no problem seducing men with your feminine wiles," Garcia raised an eyebrow at Emily.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Reid gets all the special treatment. So unfair."

* * *

Reid looked at Nick's business card after forgetting it was in his coat pocket. It read Dr. Nicolas Brahms Clinical Psychologist PhD with all of his contact information on it. _Nice card_, Reid thought. Much more professional looking his own card, thanks to Garcia's insistence to put little graphics on it.

He tossed it to the side and began to loosen his tie, "Maybe later…." that meant in a few months or something. Before he could get into his comfortable pajamas the phone started to ring.

"This is Dr. Spencer Reid speaking."

"Reid," Garcia enthusiastically squeaked, "Hey good news. I have a friend who wants to meet you on Friday."

"What?" Reid blinked, "A friend? As a date? What?"

"Yeah and he's really cute and smart!"

"I don't think I should… not with work and…"

"Enough excuses hun. Aren't you the one who complains how he can't get any girls all the time? I know you used that as a cover but I seriously think that there is some truth to that."

"I'm sorry. I already told you that I don't want anybody meddle into my personal life."

"Ugh," she gasped, "I'm not meddling I'm… enhancing. Besides, it's just a date and you'll get a free dinner. Please? He's a real gentlemen."

Reid sighed and wondered if he'll go on one date Garcia will back off. He didn't want to tell her that he swore off love long ago because he knew that would cause Garcia to flip her lid and insist to meddle even more. He weighed his options.

"…"

"Reid?"

"Okay. Just this one date. Is that a deal?"

"Deal. I'm so excited! You wont regret it. Anyway I'll give you more details on the phone on where to meet and all of that. I'll see you tomorrow," Garcia giggled, "Good night Romeo."

"Goodnight Garcia," Reid sighed again as he hung up. Even though all of this was annoying the living daylights out of him and Garcia is turning into a mother itching to get her daughter married away, he was flattered. His own mother would ask Reid sometimes if he found anyone but she wasn't this bad. Granted Diana Reid was sick but still…

"Just one date," he mumbled to himself when he spotted Nicks card from across the living room. There it was mocking him. Reid got up, picked it up, and looked at it once more and smiled. _Maybe it wont be so bad, _Reid wondered. Sure some of his past relationships were difficult and a certain unrequited love was pointless to pursuit. It could stop Reid from thinking about those things and besides, his first date ever was pretty enjoyable if he remembered correctly.

* * *

Ethan saw his neighbor pace back and forth in a frenzied panic. He wanted to shoot himself for agreeing to help Reid find a costume for the Halloween party. Then again, seeing his unique friend freak out over something so trivial was amusing in itself. "Dude, really? Just pick whatever costume and go buy it. Who cares?"

Reid stopped in his tracks and huffed out a frustrated breath, "Ethan it's my first party ever a-and I don't want Nick to regret ever inviting me. This is my chance to ever have a normal night out."

"Pfft," Ethan rolled his eyes but stopped himself from saying something that could make the situation worse. "Since you are the little brother I never almost nearly killed via roof jumping. I'll pick your costume and you just worry about owing me a favor. This might be fun," the dark haired man lifted himself off the couch and walked out the room, "I'll call Carmen, she'll take your measurements and help me find something."

"Ethan," Reid placed his hands on Ethan's shoulders and looked him square in the eyes, "I'm begging you as a friend. Please don't pick out anything embarrassing. I've grown up with bullies that made my life a living hell. I'm counting on you not to become one."

"Alright alright," Ethan dramatically lifted his arms in defeat, "I'm not an asshole. I'm going to make you proud."

Halloween finally arrived and everyone in their twenties were at the party. Carmen, Ethan, and Reid got out of Ethan's green Sudan and took in the scene. "Now this is a party," Carmen grinned and shook her 'booty' a little. She was dressed as Nymphadora Tonks and Ethan went as Remus Lupin. Both Harry Potter characters and both carried their fake wands that had lights in the end.

Reid lifted a brow at his friend and his girlfriend as they had a pretend battle with their wands. For once in his life he was embarrassed to be near his friends. "So, this is how it feels," he sighed and waited for the battle to end. He noticed a small group clap at the end of the little show and Carmen stood victorious. "Patronus up your ass! I win!"

Reid shakes his head.

"So these are your friends?" Nick asked and caused Reid to jump and yelp. He had no idea Nick was right behind him the entire time. "Wow," Nick laughed at the two continue their next epic battle. The brit looked away from them for a moment and focused his attention to Reid's costume.

"What are you supposed to be?" Nick took a step back and scanned the outfit.

Reid shifted his feet a little and felt his cheeks grow warm, "I'm a time traveler from the future. I think Carmen call it steampunk… it's a mixture of Victorian era style with science fiction. That's what she told me," Reid smiled. "Do you like it?"

"You look like Jules Verne's wet dream," Nick chuckled, still eyeing the young man in front of him. Reid blushed more at the scandalous statement but didn't contest it. "T-thank you? Um… who are you supposed to be?"

Nick looked a little hurt and spread his arms out wide, "I'm bloody Dr. Who, Reid. The Tom Baker version," he turned around and Reid still looked confused, "Look at the scarf! Don't tell me you've never seen Dr. Who?"

"Sorry," Reid found it hilarious that Nick was exasperated at him. "Never seen it."

"That HAS to change," Nick put his arms on his hips, "Some genius you are. Anyway, it's a bit strange that we both ended up as time travelers and yes, Dr. Who is a time traveler."

"It is," Reid snickered, "Freaky coincidence."

"Damn right," Nick grinned his now typical awkward grin. "Lets go inside and have a couple of drinks. I'll go school you on Dr. Who and other important cultural relevant things."

It turned out that the young doctor can be very sociable when he has a couple of drinks in his belly. He talked to Nick's friends and they were all very nice. He didn't drink too much though, Ethan told him to be careful because he was so 'impressionable'.

The night was winding down and everyone was either too drunk to function so they had to spend the night or left home. Nick and Reid were pretty sober but were content on sitting on the curb.

"Ay Ay Reid!" Ethan lifted his bottle up and swaggered to the car. Carmen shushed her boyfriend, "Shut up, I have to take your drunk ass home. Leave Reid alone."

"Bye Reid," Ethan waved, "Good luck!"

Nick leaned back and watched the two couples argue, "Your friends are hilarious. I like them."

"They're the right type of crazy that can accept me as a friend," Reid drank a little of his punch and smacked his lips together to rid of the tangy taste. "I'm lucky to have them as friends."

"Oy, and me? Aren't I your friend too?" Nick pouted and shoved himself a little towards Reid. "Hm?"

Reid rolled his eyes, "Of course. You're insecure when you're drunk Nick."

"I guess," Nick quirked a smile, "I'm not that drunk. I'm sober enough to notice something is bothering you. What is it?"

"I guess you're pretty sober then," Reid looked at the top hat in his hands, "It's just, my mother used to take me Trick or Treating when I was a kid. I remember she would hold my hand and I wore this over sized pumpkin costume. I noticed one of the children wearing the same costume when I was heading to the party and… I missed that. That costume signified the last year I ever went trick or treating before my mom got ill…"

"Oh," Nick put his hand on Reid's shoulder, "I'm sorry… you mentioned before she has schizophrenia. I know it's hard as kid to live with that."

"Mhm," Reid placed his punch on the concrete next to him, "For some reason, I can't stop imagining the future tonight. I'm talking to your friends enjoying myself but, in the back of my head I can't stop thinking that… that… if this is the last time I'm going to be able to do this. What if every holiday or year would be the last time I'm lucid. I know that the percentage to have it genetically passed is %10 percent if only one parent is schizophrenic but…"

"I know what you mean," Nick felt bad for interrupting but thought it would be good for Reid to hear what he was about to say, "My father is a schizo as well as my grandfather. I'm starting to see the same symptoms on my little brother. I used to think we were a cursed bunch. Especially seeing someone so young go through something like that. It's so unfair. I have a %20 percent chance of getting it and it scares the shit off of me."

"I'm sorry," Reid looks down at his feet. He felt bad for feeling sorry for himself when the person right next to him is going through much worse.

Nick shrugged and let his hand fall on his own thy, "That wont stop me from living that is. What I do is, do a little math. 10%? Try looking at it as a 90% of not getting it. I say those are some pretty good odds. Mine is around 80%. That's still pretty good. Even if we do end up getting schizophrenia, that wont stop us from being ourselves. As long as we have the support group and treatment that we need, we can deal with it and continue our lives. That's why I want to be a psychologist," Nick turned to smile at Reid, "I want to remind everyone with a mental illness that they are just as normal as everyone else. We all have the same feelings don't we? Besides look at John Nash. He's a badass."

"He is a badass," Reid giggled. "That's the first time I listened to someone talk more than I did yet… I appreciate it. I feel a lot better. Thank you," he put his arms on his knees and looked out into the street. He couldn't believe he revealed all this to someone and have that same person do that in return. It was nice to have someone on the same boat.

"Reid?"

"Yes?"

There it was, it was only a few seconds but Reid felt like he was in the clouds for a couple of minutes. Nick broke away and his cheeks were tinted red. He had a goofy nervous smile and expecting green eyes. "Sorry if I did something wrong. I couldn't help myself."

Reid blinked his large eyes and his mind froze. He felt his brain churning out possible words and sentences, "I um… I… er… hmmmm… You didn't do a-anything wrong," He blushed.

"Phew," Nick wiped his forehead in relief, "Dr. Reid, how about we time travelers go forward in time and go on a second date? Maybe catch a movie?"

"Okay," Reid still felt a little dazed. So many firsts happened in one day his head was spinning. "We can go two days in the future around seven O'clock. Is that okay with you Dr. Who?"

"Oh yes, how could the time lord ever say no to such a cute time traveler? It's a date."

Tbc

* * *

I'm just filled with flashbacks aren't I? I even wrote one with J.J. finding out somewhere but I'll have to find a better time squeezing it in. Oh and John Nash is that guy from A Beautiful Mind. Such a good movie! There are some inaccuracies but hey, all movies are.

I swore I wouldn't have so much of Nick around but dammit I wrote the Halloween bit some time ago and I liked how Ethan turned out. As to how the relationship fell apart? I have a couple of options.


	3. Subways and Jeans

Criminal Minds does not belong to me. If I did then you'd see more skin. Oh god stop me from perving.

* * *

Reid clenched his messenger bag's strap when the train passengers began to swarm inside the cart, eager to head back home after a long day of work. Riding the subway was Reid's own personal haven. Being at the BAU was just work related thoughts, facts, statistics, and sometimes silly already contrived comebacks mainly directed at Morgan and Prentiss. The opposite of that was his own apartment was filled with melodic words that he read from books, memories, and silence. Sometimes he played classical music so he wouldn't feel the crawling loneliness. Other times it was music Prentiss would burn for him to try and bring him into the 21st century; right now she was in her Belle & Sebastian phase.

The train was indeed a special place for the troubled genius. His thoughts were muted into a mummer as he looked at the other passengers enter into their own worlds. He always thought it was strange how he could be at peace while swimming in a sea of thoughts. When they were thinking or daydreaming he can feel this buzz in the air and it calmed him. Everyone was the same and Reid was like everyone else.

He took out his personal cell phone that had only about ten numbers. He figured why he even had a personal phone and a work phone. Garica's sudden text glowed on his eyes.

**Hey sweet cheeks! Tomorrow**

**7:30PM. Sinclair movie theater.**

**Love Garci XOXO  
**

Garcia was quick setting up the another date and that was no surprise to Reid. She was always so good at multitasking in just about everything; real life events included. Her spiked interest in Reid's love life was expected because he was the most private person in the BAU. Reid wondered if shielding himself from everybody so they can be tempted to chip away at his life was on purpose on his part. Reid shook the thought out of his head. No, this was his time to be void of any thoughts.

The train stopped again and the doors swished besides him. More passengers rushed inside and it was getting ridiculously full. Reid spotted an old woman standing not to far from him and noticed she was caring a fair amount of groceries. One thing never did change about people, they're lack of willingness to help anyone else.

"Excuse me ma'm," Reid tapped the elderly woman on the shoulder lightly. She turned around and her eyes widened immediately, surprised by Reid's height. "Oh um," Reid continued shyly. "Please take my seat. I sit around the office all day anyway."

The old woman curled up a smile and gave the young man a warm and thankful hug, "Thank you child. "

"It's no problem at all," Reid tried to ignore the amused smiles he felt around him and used all his will power to keep himself from blushing.

"The only time I see you sitting is when Prentiss and Morgan are gossiping about mundane things," A deep and familiar voice rang in Reid's ears.

Reid turned around and he felt his stomach drop in light speed, "H-Hotch!" he stuttered. "H-Hi, why are you here?"

Hotch raised his brow, amused by his flustered subordinate. "I happen to know my away around the transit system Reid. Why is that so strange?"

"You have a car."

"So do you."

"That is true," Reid looked at Hotch then at the other passengers then back at Hotch again, "This is the first time that you are the one standing out and not me," Reid tugged his lips into a knowing smirk. "They can smell the authority on you."

"It's the suit," Hotch looked around the cart and everyone darted their eyes away from him.

"Your posture of course," Reid held on to the pole in front of him and saw Hotch's distorted reflection on it's surface. "Actually, your neutral face makes people think that you're angry. If I weren't a profiler I'd always have the impression that you hate me."

Hotch smirked curtly, "I don't hate you, half the time."

Reid's face fell into a disheartening expression for a millisecond and Hotch was a little pleased with himself to catch it. "It's a joke Reid. I don't hate you."

"I know," Reid brushed his brown locks behind his ear and presented an awkward smile. There were moments, though rare, where Reid felt stupid and this was one of those moments.

The train jolted in a sudden stop and sent everyone standing inside to rock with a startling force. Reid felt his body fly towards the window after he unwillingly let go of the pole. He shut his eyes when he felt his elbow slam onto someone else.

"Hold on!" the young agent heard Hotch yell towards him as strong arms wrapped around his body. Reid's ear was pressed against Hotch's chest and he could hear the older man's speeding heartbeat. Reid froze, his eyes were unblinking. He felt the part of where his face made contact with Hotch's chest, tingle.

Hotch let go of Reid once everyone adjusted themselves from the shock and panic. The young agent ignored feeling of loss when they let go of each other. A loud squeaking noise came from the intercom and the engineer began to speak, "Sorry for the sudden stop folks. We are having technical difficulties right now so please stay calm and we'll be out of here in a jiff. Sorry for the inconvenience."

"Just our luck," Hotch straightened his thick black tie and sighed. "Is your elbow alright?"

Reid nodded slowly, "I'm more worried for the person I jabbed my elbow into. It's fine though, maybe a slight bruising later on."

"Good," Hotch scanned the cart to make sure no one else was hurt, "I have a feeling that I jinxed the train. First my car breaks down this morning, then this?"

"Ha!" Reid grins triumphantly, "The Hotch Effect. That's right, I said it."

"You got me there," Hotch chuckled. "Morgan has his doors and Rossi has women. The men in our team are hopeless."

"The girls have it good I suppose."

Reid could feel the awkward silence surround the two and this was never fun. Hotch looked like he was going to ask something. He wasn't. Hotch was probably thinking about when the train was going to move again. Reid wasn't sure. It would be nice to be able to read Hotch's mind, for only a minute. That stony expressionless face of his made it more tempting.

Hotch waited for Reid to be distracted by that old woman. She asked the doctor if he was okay and he assured her that he was. Hotch could tell, how Reid propped his arm close to his chest that he was in pain.

The unit chief replayed the moment where Reid's body made contact with his. It was a long time ago, back in Georgia, where that last happened. Since then, Reid has changed. He knew that traumatizing experiences changed people to the worse or for better. Elle chose one path, Hoch and Reid chose the other. He wasn't sure what path Gideon had chosen. It was likely the path in-between the two. It didn't matter, Gideon abandoned them all. Abandoned Reid. When Hotch heard of the news he was worried about the young genius. To almost everyone that was enough to cause a relapse. Reid, however, was stronger than he looked. Hotch had found a newfound respect for the kid. Scratch that- man.

Hotch leaned on the pole and wondered about himself. He felt he had changed too. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Reid laughing when the old woman gave him her number.

"Come and drop by when you can young man. I only live a block away from you," She winked. "Bring your handsome friend along too. I make the best apple pie in the city."

Hotch smiled as warmly as he could without making it look out of place. "I'll be more than happy to."

"Yep," Reid looked out the glass window. "Me too."

The cart jolted again and the train began to move; everyone cheered.

* * *

Friday 8:00 PM

J.J. ran towards the conference room and was relieved to see Hotch, Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss sitting around the conference table, already looking at the new case file. Reid still had yet to show up and this would be the second time he would be late. Hotch checked his watch and peeked at the door to see their youngest agent rushing in across the bullpen while knocking a few files down. Hotch raised a brow, something was different.

"This guy is a real sicko," J.J. wiped a little sweat from her cheek as she placed another gruesome photo on the evidence board. "He kills four women _and_ he kills all of the pets they own."

"Garcia wont be too happy to hear that," Prentiss shuffled more pictures of dead animals on her desk. "Look at the identical way he murders the owners and the pets."

"Some people have a deep connection towards their pets." Reid rushes in and catches his breath. Everyone turned and were shocked to see Reid look a little different. He wore a form fitting plain black T-shirt that had sleeves revealing Reid's impressive biceps. Just the fact that they were there were impressive. Another blaring difference were the dark washed jeans. They were folded up from the bottom that gave his different colored socks a tiny peek for everyone to see. Almost teasing. It's a good thing he kept his converse shoes on or Morgan swore his head was going to blow up in shear bewilderment.

"Sorry about that."

"Continue," Rossi orders.

Reid nods, "Look at Morgan and Clooney, both are athletic, both don't really listen to much of, or any authority, and both have same characteristic traits."

"Hey," Morgan scrunches his brow, "I told you Clooney didn't mean to eat up that book you let me borrow. Don't hate on him."

"You dropped one of my essays in a puddle of water if I remember correctly." Reid flashed him a pointed look. "Morgan and Clooney don't care about people's personal belongings is another example. This proves my point about pets and owners sharing similar traits."

Morgan glared, "What's up with you? Why are you dressed so… fashionable?"

"Um," Reid blushed. "I think the unsub's intentions is to kill the same person twice. By killing the pets they are killing the extension of his victim."

"So the unsub might know the victims before hand. It looks personal," Rossi noted.

"Wheels up in an hour," Hotch ordered and everyone in the conference room table left except for Rossi, of course.

"Look at that," Rossi grinned as he cocked his head towards the door. Hotch knew who he was referring to. "He looks like David Bowie and Lou Reed's Bastard child."

"What the- Are you serious?" Hotch crossed his arms. "Don't you have to get your things ready Dave?"

Rossi shook his head apathetically, "Message received Aaron. I'll be on my way mother." The oldest agent went to join the others who were probably discussing their own theories about Reid.

Hotch ignored the need to roll his eyes at Rossi's nosy demeanor but then again, he was also curious as to why their Reid appeared late, dressed like a more polished version of himself with jeans. Jeans! Not just any ordinary jeans anybody could casually wear out in the streets but, tight fitting dark washed jeans that made his long legs look ridiculously longer. Hotch had to mentally kick himself for thinking about his jean clad subordinate. It's not like he was violating whatever non-existent dress code the BAU had.

"Are you ready Hotch?" the object of his musings popped his head out of the door frame and eyed him curiously.

"Yes," Hotch nodded and began to head out the door. Reid relieved his posture, smiled, then went back into the bullpen to get a book he almost left behind. Hotch caught the sight of the jeans again and sighed. Despite seeing strange and unusual things on a daily basis, thanks to his job, this by far, was the strangest.

* * *

The team was getting close to the unsub. No new victims so far and things seemed to be going smoothly. The police allowed the team to cooperate as much as possible with out any protests. Usually something Hotch had to remedy. Everyone was focused and no inner drama surfaced, which was becoming quite typical for the agents. Hotch knew, there is always that calm before the storm.

Rossi loomed over the pool of blood that was left by the last victim. Two pools of blood in fact. "Odd," he paused. "The detectives just informed me that the leashes were missing."

"Souvenirs," Hotch mused as he kept walking around the nothing but impeccably clean kitchen; if not for the blood.

"You know what else is odd?"

Hotch hummed as he examined the window, "No forced entry."

"That and-," Rossi took a couple of aloof steps forward, "Reid wearing those tight ass jeans last night."

Hotch kept studying the surroundings, looking for clues. "That again? All young men his age begin to alternate styles more often."

"Oh yeah? He's wearing Khakis today. How is that alternating? He looks like his same geeky self."

"Can we focus on the case Dave?" Hotch sighed.

"Odd," Rossi began again.

"What is it now?" Hotch was growing impatient.

"I heard one of the trains in the subway was momentarily stopped." Rossi quirked a smug smirk on his face. "I know Dr. Reid takes that particular train home."

Hotch turned around and shot Rossi the iciest of stares that were saved for the unsubs. Rossi, however, took great pleasure seeing his friend this irritated and perplexed.

"Hotch! Rossi!" Morgan ran into the kitchen and waved the men over to him. "We have a lead. XXXX Brilliam's Street. It's inside an abandoned psych hospital."

Hotch and Rossi nodded to each other and all three headed to the abandoned psych ward.

* * *

Prentiss and Reid both gulped at the same time. The psych ward resembled a castle Dracula would approve of. "You gotta be shitting me." Emily cursed.

"I remember reading about this building. It is called the Brilliam Sanitarium. Not only did it house mental patients back in the late 1800's up until 1975 but when the tuberculosis epidemic hit, that's where they went to seek medical help. There are approximately five stories. The fourth and fifth floors were where the mental patients were housed and taken care of… so to speak. The floors below were for the physically ill," Reid peeked at one of the large windows and hoped that the others would hurry up. A large spooky sanitarium where it hasn't had any electric power supply in almost forty years was not his cup of tea. "I have my flashlight with me."

Prentiss hesitated too but she knew that the unsub was hiding in there and could escape at any moment. "Me too. Lets stick together and be as cautious as possible okay."

"You read my mind," Reid readied his flashlight and gun.

Inside was like walking into another time. The lobby was covered in dirt and cobwebs, the chandelier had only but a few dangling glass shillings. Prentiss walked inside slowly because if you ran around a place like that, you'd be more likely to trip or cause an accident.

"Reid," Prentiss whispered. "We don't have time checking all five floors. If we look at the profile, I'm betting that he's on either the fourth or fifth floor."

"I'm sure you're right," he nodded. "The unsub knows the history of this building. I read that they also conducted experiments with humans and animals on the fourth floor. That's where we'll find him."

As they made their way up the stairs they spotted a lonely nose, hanging still in the hallway of the second floor. Reid tapped Prentiss lightly with his finger. "Prentiss. Look. That's where a nurse by the name of Emily Joe hung herself. She happened to have a small dog she secretly took care of in her room. After she died the caretakers found the dog and took it to the lab upstairs."

"Do you think the unsub think he's avenging the nurse somehow?"

"That or he thinks he's the reincarnated spirit of Emily Joe. It makes sense, all the victims were scientists working in labs. He murdered the pets to keep them from getting experimented on too."

"Did you hear that?" Prentiss turned on her heels and pointed the flashlight down the hall. Nothing. She swore she heard someone giggling. A child.

Reid looked around the hallway. He didn't find anything. They both kept walking up the stairs to the fourth floor.

As they got closer the smell of the building grew worse. It was thick and stale like walking into a dust cloud. The air had something else that Reid couldn't pin point. It was heavy but all encompassing. Something was not right. "Prentiss. No. We have to go back."

Emily turned around to see her partner's eyes grow wide with fear. Reid rarely-if ever suggested to retreat on a mission. He usually kept going forward, knowing the dangers ahead, and ready to prove everyone that he was as tough as everyone else. "What's wrong?" she asks.

Reid shook his head, "I don' know. Something is telling me to go back… to the second floor."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yeah," Reid answered as he licked his lips. "Very sure."

* * *

They were on the way to the sanitarium and Hotch still was giving Rossi that icy glare he gave him earlier. Morgan was too busy driving and talking to Garcia on the hands free phone to notice the battle between the older agents. Rossi was too happy go bask in his glory to care about Hotch being butt hurt that he found out. It was about damn time too. Hotch has been _looking_ Reid even before Rossi returned to the BAU. How long was he looking at Reid for? Who the hell knew for sure. JJ has a theory that it was when Reid was kidnapped by that psycho. Rossi had a different theory. It must have been longer than that.

He almost forgot to thank JJ on that little sabotage trick she used on Hotch's car. Rossi will have to wait till this case was over and they'll both have a good laugh about it. JJ and Rossi still have a lot of work ahead due to Garcia and Prentiss's meddling. He'll have to have a word with them.

"Around Halloween, the place is open for tourists," Garcia could be heard on loudspeaker. "They say the place is haunted. Wooooo."

"Babygirl, there are no such things as ghosts," Morgan laughed.

"You are no fun," Garcia said.

"We're almost there Gacri-baby. Try and contact Reid and Prentiss I think they're inside already," Morgan pulls into the lawn. "Damn this place is creepy."

"Morgan! They are not responding!" Garcia shouted. "I can't get through."

"What?" Morgan frowned as he looked at the building. Hotch spotted the black SUV, hoping to see his two agents inside or around it. They weren't there. They must be inside.

Hotch drew his weapon and nodded his head to Rossi and Morgan. The storm finally hit.

* * *

A/N Rawr! How did that happen? It turned into a ghost story! Where is the love? Don't worry folks, it's only to keep my brain from drowning in fluff and corny things. I'm going to have to up the ratings too because of all of the cursing.

I want to thank the reviewers again for their support. I'm sorry I can't respond to everyone but I'll try my hardest this time around. *insert smiley face here* And I want to thank those who fav'd me and the story. Made me go into a joy high.

Anywho! Sorry the beginning was a little slow and I promise the fluff will continue. Twists and turns abound. I also want to apologize for my grammar. It's not easy writing in English when it's your second language. ~_^ but I tried to edit it as much as I possibly could.

Until next time!


	4. backseat drivers

A/N: I'm truly very, very sorry for the late chapter. It's just I've been bombarded with so many awesome things that my brain is literally going "AAAHH!" I've rewritten this chapter like five times. I'm not joking. :\ five times. All that aside I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Things are going into full swing pretty soon (I hope).

Criminal Minds does not belong to me and all of that stuff. Bleep bloop bleep.

* * *

Reid sighed as he checked his phone. It was dead. He knew he charged it earlier that day, but with phones, you never know sometimes. The battery probably needed to be replaced.

"Hmm," Prentiss checked the last door down the corridor and found nothing- just more dirt and an abandoned bed, stained and abused. "He's not here, but we still need to keep a sharp eye. There are many places he could be hiding."

"It's easy for the unsub to get trapped. This building is unstable after all," Reid said as he pondered the unsub's whereabouts. He wondered if his gut was giving him mixed signals and that the unsub was where they originally thought he was. It was probably the overwhelming darkness that made it churn.

"What if there was a…" he turned to face Prentiss but she wasn't standing there. "Prentiss? Where did you go?" He gulped. She probably found something in one of the rooms.

"Prentiss? Did you find something?" He inched closer to the room he assumed she's in. It was odd that his partner didn't respond. There must be a reason why she's not answering. Did she find where the unsub is? A million possibilities were running inside his head. "Em-Emily?"

Great, this was one of those missions where everything can and will go wrong. The doctor sighed as he slowly walked down the hallway. If he saw Prentiss again he is going to punish her some way for this. Maybe by accompanying him to a lecture his favorite physicist was holding next week. Along with two months of free coffee of course.

"Reid!" Emily's voice echoed through the corridor. He was overjoyed to hearing it but it sparked a new set of worries inside of his already overactive brain. "Reid, I'm stuck!"

"Are you hurt?" The doctor ran towards the voice and flashed his light at every possible corner. "Em?"

"No, I'm fine. Just stuck. Ew! I HOPE that wasn't a rat just now."

Reid walked into the room and found Emily inside a large manmade pit, deep enough to keep the agent from crawling out. Emily was perched on top of a small table and waited for the doctor to help her. Spencer let out a sigh of relief and inched in closer to shine a light on her. Her flashlight looked like the only casualty in that fall. "How did you end up there?" He asked.

Prentiss shot him a pointed look to hide her embarrassment. "I heard a barking sound and well… I walked on over here and the floor caved in."

"It's a trap the unsub used… um, hold on; I'll go look for a rope," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. A rope would be too much to hope for but he had to try. The phones were dead and who knew where the unsub could be right now.

"I feel so stupid," Emily crossed her arms and gave an irritated moan. "This happens to cartoon characters, Reid. I'm a FBI agent, and I fall into a damn hole like Daffy Duck. Don't tell anyone… Especially not Morgan."

Reid chuckled. He could imagine what Morgan would say and Prentiss would have to exact some kind of revenge. That is their brother and sister dynamic and Spencer felt lucky to be a part of it. "I promise I won't tell Morgan."

"What was that? A delayed response?" Emily stood up from the table and noticed Reid turn his back on her. "Aha! You were planning something weren't you? Bribery maybe?" She tiptoed to try and get some kind of response. Something was wrong and she hoped it was just Reid tensing up because of a rat or a possum spooked him. "Reid? What's wrong?"

BANG!

* * *

Hotch rushed inside the building with the rest of his team. He hoped his two agents were all right but he was sure they could take care of themselves. Prentiss and Reid always made a good pair when they were out on a dangerous mission. Like what Rossi said before, "Those two have the largest balls." It was true but a very disturbing thought.

"Spooky," Morgan whispered. "Should we split up? This place is the size of a demented Ikea."

"I doubt that would work," Hotch looked at the floor plan Garcia brilliantly uploaded on his PDA. "This place is too large, so splitting up would increase the dangers."

"Is the SWAT team on their way?" Rossi asked Garcia though the loudspeaker on his phone.

"Yes sir," Garcia used her professional tone of voice.

"Good, it wont be long then," Rossi gave the lobby a once over, his eyes glistening with determination and that calm he always unnaturally had. "Hotch, Morgan, the unsub is still inside so we'll have to be extra careful." The two nodded and took out their guns.

BANG!

Without a second thought the three followed the noise and hoped it wasn't what they thought it was. Reid in peril again, they supposed. Hotch rushed up the stairs and into the corridor; the light from their flashlights weren't strong enough to push away most of the darkness and the dust. Morgan managed to kick up as he ran past the two older agents. Hotch felt an uneasy churn in his stomach when his flashlight up ahead revealed a body sprawled up against the wall. Blood oozing out of its chest, creating a small puddle of blood as it picked up the dust from the floor.

"We need an ambulance," Morgan calmly spoke to his phone. The man was calm- that was a good sign that it wasn't Reid or Prentiss's body lying there. Hotch jogged up to the sight and his suspicions were confirmed. It was the unsub, but where were his two team members?

"Hi guys," Reid awkwardly waved with one arm as he steadily walked out of the room. He was head to toe covered in dust and it would have been quite comical if it weren't for the situation.

"Geez! What happened to you," Morgan got up and patted the slim man's shoulder and a little dust cloud appeared. He laughed as he blew the cloud away. Leave it to Morgan to make light of things after an investigation.

Reid swatted the man away with his free hand. There was a small bundle of fir in his arms, but right now the doctor was more preoccupied with something more important. "Prentiss is stuck in a pit up ahead. We should get her out you guys. She's losing her patience."

Morgan stifled a laugh once he walked up to where she was. Prentiss glowered at Morgan warning him with her eyes. The man decided it would be best to let it slide for now. He should focus on rescuing her and then celebrating their success. The teasing came later.

* * *

Rossi was sitting in the back of the van because, for him, this was the best seat. He had to evaluate the progress of his two favorite side projects, Hotch and Reid. The two agents were sitting in the front, Hotch driving the van and Reid was preoccupied with the small animal he picked up from the sanitarium- a tiny chocolate Labrador pup.

"Let me get this straight," Rossi pushed his aviator glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "The unsub was threatening to kill the dog?"

Reid nodded, "It was exactly like the puppy was a victim."

"It was a victim," Hotch added.

"Right. A human victim, I meant," Reid scratched the puppy's head with his long almost delicate finger. The puppy wagged its tail and eased its head closer to Reid's hand. "The dog was pretty calm through the entire thing, amazingly enough, up until the unsub was ready to stab it, then I had to shoot him."

"I never pegged you as a dog lover Reid," Rossi smirked at the thought.

Hotch noticed Reid squirm in his seat. He knew the kid never had any luck with dogs. Mostly because Reid would tense up when he was near them and the dogs picked up it easily. It wasn't a surprise to him that the young genius shot the unsub to save a dog. As long as he saved a life was all that mattered to Reid and the rest of the BAU. Any life saved to make up for those they couldn't.

"You made the right choice," Hotch stretched his hand out to Reid and ruffled his hair a little. "Don't let Rossi bully you into thinking that it was silly. Old man just wants to have fun."

Reid's eyes widened at the display of playful contact Hotch made. Hotch never, and he meant never, ruffled his hair for any reason. He didn't ruffle anyone's hair- except for Jack, of course. Maybe he was reading into this too much. Reid's panicking mind wasn't lost for the two older agents. Hotch looked at the rearview mirror and glared slightly at his friend. "Rossi just takes pleasure in bullying people, that's all."

Rossi took the message and grinned. The oldest agent leaned back in his seat and let the two entertain him with their stupid little love games. Reid was busy holding the puppy in place as it tried to wriggle out of his grip and Hotch tried to ignore the display as much as possible now so he could focus driving.

"We are going to the vet, right?" Reid asked with hopeful eyes. Hotch couldn't take much more of this Reid and puppy combo and he mentally hit his head on the steering wheel. Rossi wished he had popcorn.

* * *

Kevin didn't know how it happened, but right now he was lying on the couch staring into the many glow in the dark stars and moons on the ceiling. One minute he and his beautiful goddess, Penelope, were watching a TV series together on her laptop and the next he was here. What was it again? Oh that's right, the argument between what was better, Sherlock Holmes the movie or the brand new series. They both agreed that the show was pretty amazing but the comment Kevin made about the movie star who was a one trick pony sent his girlfriend into a tirade and the argument got heated.

"Note to self, I hate that guy," Kevin mumbled to himself. Right when he found a position comfortable enough so that he could drift of into sleep there was a knock on the door. "Perfect…. Just perfect… hold on!" He rushed to put on his glasses that sat on the coffee table and shuffled to the door.

"You better have a damn good reason," Kevin flew the door open and was met with a very stern looking Agent Rossi. "Oh, uh sir. Please come in."

Rossi raised his brow quizzically at the man when he saw the couch was pretty much a mess. He knew what that meant; he was no stranger to a couch back in the day. He decided it was best to sit on the chair. "Can you get Penelope for me?"

Kevin nodded rapidly, "Sure. Um… Would you like a drink?"

"Just some water."

"Okay," Kevin rushed into the kitchen first to buy some time to prepare himself for the onslaught of Penelope's rage. He came back into the living room, placed the drink on the coffee table and rushed to the bedroom.

It took Garcia only ten minutes and a little yelling for her to get out of bed. She knew Rossi was inside her apartment, but seeing him drinking from her plastic cup that had the daisy pattern all over it was a surprise. "Sir, what can I help you with?" She asked curiously.

Rossi put the cup down and stared squarely at her, "I need you to stop with your shenanigans."

"W-what?" Garcia gaped at the agent.

"Your little match maker game. I know all about it. I highly recommend that you stop."

"How did you know?" Garcia hugged her throw pillow tightly to her chest. Rossi found out, and now she was going to get trouble with him and who knows what else.

"I have my ways," Rossi leaned back and placed his hands on his lap. "We also gathered that your project is failing spectacularly. Either way, we don't want to take any chances if Reid actually ends up falling for someone. We won't allow that."

"We?" Garcia frowned and puckered her lips tightly in confusion. "We? If you don't mind me asking Agent Rossi, who is this we?"

As on cue J.J. opened the door and carefully shut it behind her and gave Garcia a gracious smile. "Sorry I'm late. Henry decided to wake up in the middle of the night. I'm starting to think he's part owl."

"J.J.?" Garcia leaped to her feet and her jaw dropped to the floor, "What the? Guh! Fuh! Buh!"

"Hello to you too Penelope," J.J. sat on the couch and held a manila folder in her arms. She always looked like she was working even when she wasn't. "Rossi, I assume you told her a little bit."

"I didn't reveal too much J.J.; I felt that you would do a better job," Rossi chuckled, because Garcia was on the verge of a panic attack. "Please, start from the beginning."

J.J. settled herself on the couch across from the tech goddess and asked Garcia to sit down so they could begin their 'briefing'. If she was going to do it one way, it was surely going to be the way Garcia was accustomed to. The blonde was having a lot of fun with it and the look in her eyes glistened as she set her little work area on the coffee table up. "Lets begin. Since you already know about our boy genius's situation I won't go into to much detail. I will tell you this, Garcia, your project is compromising our own plans."

"And what plans are you two are up to, pray-tell?" Garcia crossed her arms.

The blonde agent paused as she thought about how to break it to her. "Ah, okay. Garcia, what if we told you that someone from our department has eyes for our sweet little Reid for some time now? Lets say… For a really long time."

"Really? Oh my god! This is too awesome! It's Anderson right? I knew that guy had something going on," Garcia danced a little in her seat. J.J. and Rossi glanced at each other and both knew this was going to take a little work. They couldn't blame her though; she was mostly cut off from the rest of the team and was surrounded by her lifeless technology that she deemed her friends.

"Uh, no, it's not Anderson. It's someone you would never ever expect Garcia. Someone from our team."

"Morgan? That's even better! I think I'm going to die of happiness now."

"Garcia it's not-"

"Wait, wait, wait. It's Rossi! Oh you cheeky old man you."

Rossi spat out his drink and began to have a coughing fit. Out of all the crazy guesses she picked him? Her mind was starting to scare poor Rossi. Profiling can only go so far into someone's mind but this... this was something else. J.J. snickered but felt bad for the man being suspected on having the hots for Reid.

"It's not me you crazy broad!" Rossi yelled.

Garcia giggled despite being yelled at by the senior profiler. "Sorry sir. It just came out."

Kevin came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his hand. "It's Hotch isn't it?" he said, as a matter of fact.

J.J. and Rossi were still and waited for Garcia to fly off from her couch to either strangle poor Lynch or to dance around with joy. It wasn't either.

"Wait, you are both telling me that… wait…" Garcia shook her head uncontrollably. Many thoughts began circling her already overactive imagination and then finally, it struck her. "Are you both joking? Am I on drugs? Kevin did you sneak acid in my food you bastard!"

Kevin shook his head and held his arms up defensively, "I did no such thing."

"Hotch! Really? This is the most… wonderful thing I've ever heard," Garcia squealed. "So how did this happen? Hotch and Reid? How did I miss it?"

"It barely passed our radar actually. Us two are the only ones who know about the sparks they had for each other. Don't feel bad Pen," the blonde apologized wholeheartedly.

Penelope felt the sting of being left out of this little operation, but she could see why the two agents kept it to themselves. It didn't take a profiler to understand the complexities of the office romance. Rossi and J.J., including herself, know what kind of hell it is to be in love with a workmate. "I understand J.J. It's just, how did you two find out?"

"It was an accumulation of little things for me," Rossi stood up and swirled his water as if it was wine. "A slight touch here, a comment there, and this air about them. Trust me, both are meticulous at hiding things they don't want anyone to see. Too bad for them I have more experience than both of them combined with courting and profiling."

"I can see your disappointment Penelope," J.J. smirked at her friend. "You were expecting us to tell you that we found them in a janitor's closet."

"Or the elevator," Penelope added excitedly.

"For me," J.J. began, pulling up her folder to her chest, "Rossi accidentally dropped his notebook and I accidentally opened it and accidentally read what he wrote about our little love birds."

"I wouldn't call snooping around an accident J.J.," Rossi smirked.

"After that, and a good argument," J.J. eyed the older man with a little displeasure, "we decided to work together and to observe them closely. We didn't want to meddle into their lives until you started to do the meddling."

Penelope frowned at the two, "I wouldn't have done any of that if I knew you two decided to play spy games. I'm not going to be angry at you both because I love you like my own family. Still it hurts me a little," she feigned a sad little sniff.

"Good," Rossi walked to the front door to make his exit, "Welcome to our sub-team. Tomorrow I want a full report on any useful information you gathered on the boy. Got that?"

"Yes sir!" Penelope saluted.

* * *

The next day was exciting for the techie. She strutted down the hallway with new gusto and a new aim that will keep her from being bored. Not that she was bored all the time but another side project would never hurt. She walked past Hotch and wished him a good morning. Hotch drank from his coffee and raised his brow at her. Garcia had a new spring in her step. Maybe Lynch proposed, the unit chief wondered.

J.J. was in her office a little tired from last night but that was something she was used to. She felt a new shinning presence strut into her office and she wondered who in the hell could be this cheery this early in the day. "Penelope?"

"Hello J.J." Garcia walked up to her desk and placed a fluffy pink notebook on J.J.'s desk. "This, my sweet little spy crumpet, is my master piece. All the info I've gathered on Reid's dates are here, and I did a little research on Hotch myself. Not to shabby eh?"

"Um," J.J. flipped through the pages and her eyes almost bulged out of her sockets. "Did you Photoshop these?"

"Just a few little motivations I cooked up."

The blonde looked through them again and nodded her head in approval. "Don't let Rossi see these."

"Before I forget," Penelope opened a page from the notebook and pointed at the page with her manicured finger. "I have a plan J.J., and it's crazy enough to work. All I want is you guys' approval."

"Oh my god," J.J. gasped as she read the plan. "This is risky but… I like it with a few revisions."

"I'll call Rossi," Penelope winked. "If he doesn't see an alternative then this is our only hope."

At the same time in another office, Hotch walked into Rossi's office, casually holding a glass of water. He closed the door behind him and flashed his friend a rare grin. "I hope you got my message in the van Dave."

Rossi lifted his head up from reading a book and shrugged. "Yeah I got it. It wasn't very subtle at all."

Hotch walked in closer and looked around the office, "What's that? A new ficus plant? Did your black thumb of death strike again?"

"Aaron," Dave sighed and put his book down. "Why are you here?"

"You tell me," Hotch smiled and poured the remaining water from his glass in the plant's pot.

Rossi gave up. "You know Reid likes you. You've known for a while. That display in the van was loud and clear. Why don't you pursue it and end both of your suffering?"

"You know the answer," Hotch sat on the empty chair. "Your past discretions make it difficult for any office romance to flourish. Let alone two men."

"That's bullshit Aaron. Garcia and Lynch seem to be doing fine. Nobody takes those rules seriously anyway," Rossi glared. Hotch had to bring up the 'it's your fault you were a player' card. Also, using Garcia and Lynch for an example wasn't a good idea, especially after Lynch was sleeping on the couch last night. "Is it Reid's abandonment issues that scare you? Or is it your own insecurities?"

Hotch ran his fingers through his own hair and he felt the bite of Rossi's truth. "There are a lot of things Dave. A lot of things. Right now, I'm content at where things are now."

Rossi nodded, he understood his friend very well. Hotch didn't need to tell Rossi out loud about his worries. The worries about Reid's own willingness to confess or not. The worries about Hotch repeating the mistakes he made when he was with Haley. The worries about losing Reid because of something he did. There were too many of these. How can Dave possibly blame Aaron, when things have become this complicated in a non-existent relationship?

The oldest agent rose up from his seat and walked next to where Hotch sat. His hand resting upon Hotch's shoulder to show that he understood. "I know exactly how you feel, Aaron. I just don't want you to regret it when Reid gets taken away from you from someone else."

"I'm expecting it," Hotch nodded quietly.

* * *

A/N: What a downer. Yes, I noticed the lack of Morgan and Reid in this chapter. I like Morgan, but his role will be more important in the later chapters so don't you worry. And as for Reid, he's going to have a couple of visitors on his way. Possibly permanent visitors.

I also want to thank you readers for reading my drabbly goop *insert smiley face*. Also, I want to thank the-vampire-act for being such an awesome beta. You rock!

Till next time ~_^ ciao


	5. The Muffin Admirer

A/N: Hello everyone! Sorry for the wait. I've been fangirling on another fandom (gasp! Treason!). Trust me when I say that CM has been crawling around in my head the entire time. I think it was good for my brain though, gave me more inspiration to write this. *smiley face*

Ah! Before you begin I want to warn you that this is now placed a month after the last chapter. Now that's all cleared up, please enjoy!

* * *

MONDAY 5:37AM

There was a light knock on the door. It was Monday morning and Reid shifted around his queen size bed, blankets strewn about and a sheet wrapped around one long leg like a lazy tentacle. It was ridiculously early; the sky was still a deep dark blue for god sakes! He turned again and blinked the sleep away, wishing the knocking would go away. Too bad for Spencer, this person was persistent.

The groggy genius pushed himself off of his soft bed and grabbed his glasses from the nightstand. He made his way to the door and looked through the peephole. Even in the wee hours of the morning, psychos never rested. It was a woman. Curious. Maybe she was a neighbor. He opened the door anyway.

"Good morning! You have a delivery," The woman hopped in her white keds and presented a basket of muffins of various flavors and sizes, all wrapped up in pink cellophane. Reid rubbed his eyes again to see if his eyes weren't playing a trick on him.

"You are Spencer Reid right?" The girl shifted her weight to the side because her legs were getting tired. Reid snapped out of thoughts and gave her a small apologetic smile. "Sorry, sorry. Yes that's me. Um, thank you."

The girl beamed again and passed over the muffin basket, "Have a nice day sir."

"Thank you. You too," he said after tipping her with a five dollar tip. The woman's day was off to a good start, he guessed.

It took him a long time to get to his fully awake state. Morgan joked that Reid was like a computer with too much crap in his hard drive. Morgan wasn't the best with computers, the genius noted.

His first instinct was getting his magical potion he called coffee before he set off into this delicate procedure. Once he finally did his daily early morning routine he unwrapped the basket, and the smell of muffins hit him like a pleasant wave of sweetness and wheat and a white letter delicately fell out of the basket.

"Great," he softly said to himself as he felt blood rush to his brain and his profiler instincts kicked in. Could this be a trap? Was there some kind of trigger in the letter that made the basket of muffins explode? Did a psycho send him the basket?

He shook his head furiously, "It should be examined," the doctor chuckled to himself. The letter looked normal enough. "Maybe some vacation time," he smiled at how paranoid he became as he opened the letter.

_To the brilliant Spencer Reid,_

_I hope you find the breakfast treats to your liking. Please, enjoy your gift and promise me to eat more often. Your lack of body weight has given me great concern. _

_Sincerely yours, _

_An admirer_

"Weird," Reid raises an inquiring brow. He picked up the muffin nimbly and examined it by smelling and poking at the spongy surface. Looks good but he would feel better if he took it to the lab and get it examined.

* * *

TUESDAY 10:08 AM

Morgan was bored. Not the normal kind of bored where there isn't anything to do. Believe him, there was plenty of things to do. The case files are stacked up on his already cluttered desk and there were emails to be answered. The boredom he felt was towards his teammates and the utter quietness. Everyone was off on their own, either on their office or on a briefing. Then there was Reid, sitting quietly to himself nibbling on a muffin quite contently. His case files were in the 'finished' pile, and he looked quite intense while he was in his own thoughts. What do geniuses usually daydream about? Something sciencey, Morgan guessed.

"Hey kid," Morgan waved at Reid, hoping his sudden movement would catch his attention. It didn't.

"Reid," he tried again but he got the same result.

"REID!"

The young genius was startled from his daydreams and the muffin fell from his hands and onto his desk. Morgan grinned as he scooted his wheeled chair towards his friend. "Hey Kid. What's with the muffin? I never see you eat solid food items around this time of day. What's up?"

"Nothing," Reid answered too quickly. He knew he just made a mistake. "Nothing at all."

"Right," Morgan ruffled his hair, "So what's her name?"

"What?" Reid brushed his hair back in place and glared.

"A girl gave you that muffin. I know for a fact that you only waste your money on books, coffee, and granola bars. Spill it, who gave you a muffin? Was she cute?" Morgan wiggled his eyebrows like some Sauvé detective from old black and white movies.

Reid shrugged nonchalantly and picked up his unfinished muffin, "I don't know who they came from. They were delivered to me."

"Sure," Morgan kept grinning madly at Reid. "There are two possibilities Reid. A psycho sent you poisoned muffins in the morning, but since you're not foaming at the mouth right now, that's ruled out. The second has to be a secret admirer."

Reid blushed slightly and paused before taking a bite of his muffin, "That's silly. I don't _get_ secret admirers. It's probably a fan of my work."

"You keep thinking that." Morgan kept grinning but dropped the conversation. Reid could be so clueless about the matters of love that it kept the little brother image permanent. Before any thoughts of teasing Reid popped into Morgan's head something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. The bright colors of- whatever it was- made him think Penelope was heading over their way. No, it wasn't Penelope.

"We have flowers for a… Spencer Reid," A man in a delivery suit walked into the middle of the bullpen.

Morgan's head tilted so far to the side he thought his neck was going to snap. "Flowers?"

Reid's blush intensified, and he scrunched up his shoulder shyly. "I'm Spencer Reid," He raised an unsure hand.

The deliveryman spotted the skinny form and rushed towards him rather quickly, "These are for you, sir."

"T-thank you," Reid grabbed the bouquet of flowers with careful hands then gave Morgan a stunned 'I don't understand what's happening' look. After signing his name on the little pad for the deliveryman the two were finally left alone.

"So… flowers?" Morgan looked at the bouquet. Most of the bouquet consisted of a few fully bloomed purple Stargazer Lilies, red roses, and white daisies. They were strategically placed, and they weren't too gaudy, which fit Reid's personality just fine.

"What were you saying about you not getting secret admirers?" Morgan teased. Reid snapped out of his catatonic daze and examined the flowers in his hands. There was neither card nor any clue as to who might have sent them, though the doctor suspected it came from whoever sent him the muffins yesterday.

"I still wouldn't jump into conclusions," Reid answered with a hint of curiosity in his voice. He could see the rest of the department was now peeking at him and the flowers. They whispered amongst each other and flashed Reid a congratulatory smile. This was weird.

* * *

WEDNESDAY, 8:14 AM

Things were getting out of hand.

"What now?" Prentiss peeked from around her desk and was stunned to see Dr. Reid listening to an MP3 player with his ear buds pounding away to music she was sure he had never heard off.

"Reid, seriously," Prentiss poked the genius in the back and pulled the one of the buds from one of his ears, "You're gonna go deaf if you listen to music that loudly."

"Sorry Prentiss," Reid put the new MP3 player into his messenger bag and frowned guiltily. "Was I bothering you?"

"Well… not really, but I thought MP3 players weren't your style. What are you doing with one?"

"I found it on my desk this morning. It was wrapped and addressed to me," Reid bit the inside of his cheeks and Prentiss read that he found it peculiar as well. "I don't really understand what's going on"

Prentiss placed a hand on the doctor's back gently, "What don't you understand?"

"First, I received a muffin basket on Monday morning, yesterday I got the flowers, and now it's this. I can understand the significance of the muffins and flowers as kind gestures, but the music player I don't quite grasp."

"Can I see it?" Prentiss asked.

Reid retrieved the MP3 player and handed the small item over. She examined it carefully and recognized the model; it was quite expensive and sleek- something Reid wouldn't be waiting in line for, that's for sure. Her fingers touched the screen and found only about fifteen songs; all were familiar to her, of course. "Whoever gave you this thing has good taste in music."

"Do they mean something?"

"Oh Dr. Spencer Reid, someone liiiiikes you," Prentiss sang teasingly. "Some loooves you."

"What?" Reid squeaked quite loudly. He shrunk when he noticed people's heads turning towards him. "N-no. Emily how did you conclude to that?"

"This, my dear boy," Prentiss pointed at the MP3 player excitedly, "This is a mix tape. A. Mix. Tape. I'm sure you heard of a mix tape right?"

Reid shook his head.

"I'm not surprised," Prentiss breathed out an exaggerated sigh, "When a man or a women like another man or a women, sometimes they tape, burn, or in your case, download songs that remind them of the person they like. You see all of these songs? They're all love songs. Someone likes you. Secretly."

"It's it's it's just…" Reid's eyes flitted across the room and panic set in. "It's a prank! It must be a prank! People pull pranks on me all the time."

Prentiss frowned at how easily Reid can accept it to be a prank and not any form of actual kindness. "Reid, people aren't this cruel. People who aren't serial murderers."

"You'll be surprised," the genius snorted indignantly to himself. "I can handle this Emily. Sooner or later the pranker will present himself or herself to me. They always do."

"Spencer," Emily felt her stomach drop at the thought of how much Reid had to put up with his entire life. "I'll be your blood hound until we figure this out. Still, I doubt that this is a prank and that someone does actually like you. You are a catch Dr. Spencer Reid. Don't ever doubt that."

"I'm not too sure. Still, thank you," Reid smiled gratefully at his friend.

"No problem."

* * *

THURSDAY, 5:01 PM

So far so good.

It was Thursday afternoon and Dr. Reid could go home without incident. The gifts have stopped, and that eased the stress the young agent carried since he woke up. He hoped he wasn't jumping ahead of himself and that maybe there was a gift waiting for him at home. What could it be this time? A box of chocolates? A severed head? Reid was so wrapped up in the many brutal possibilities that he didn't notice the silent figure heading towards him.

"Ah!" Reid jumped quite high in the air. Hotch stared at him blankly for a couple of minutes and waited for Reid to catch his breath. "Are you okay Reid?"

Reid huffed out a relieved sigh. He should be used to this by now. "H-Hotch! I'm fine um... Just a little jumpy, that's all. Probably drank too much coffee."

"Good," Hotch raised a brow at the jittery genius. "How about I give you a ride home?"

"No thanks Hotch," Reid grinned as he adjusted his purple scarf around his neck, "Prentiss offered to give me a ride home today. Again, thank you."

"Alright, have a good night then," Hotch took a few steps back and paused, "If anything happens, don't hesitate to call me on my personal cell phone. Okay?"

"I will," Reid smiled thankfully.

For the rest of that day, nothing unusual happened.

* * *

FRIDAY, 11:45AM

Hotch was looking down at the stack of papers before him. He was always a little tired when it came to noon. The lunch bag Jack packed was sitting on the side of his desk calling to him. The lunch his son made was typical of a six year old. A brown paper bag, something that resembled a smiley face drawn with a blue crayon, and the word Daddy written with the capitol D backwards. Jack Hotchner was an artist.

He grabbed the lunch bag and headed out the door with a grin on his face. That grin soon turned into a concerned frown when he heard a certain skinny genius with a wary shout.

"What? NO!" Reid shouted at the new surprised on his desk.

Morgan, Prentiss, Hotch, and J.J. rushed to Reid's side and weren't sure what their genius was bugging about. It was wine placed in a plain white small towel with one ticket to an Opera show for tonight.

"Hey, it's wine," Morgan lifted the bottle and glee was written on his face, "Expensive wine! Reid, did you unintentionally woo a rich lady?"

Prentiss snorted at Morgan's guess because she knew Reid wasn't really into 'the ladies'. Everyone around her thought she was snorting at the joke.

"Tickets to Carmen! Wow! Will never takes me to an opera. I'm sooo jealous," J.J. clasped her hands together and bit her bottom lip to bottle up her excitement.

"I'm not going and you guys can keep the wine," Reid took the wine bottle and handed it over to Morgan. "Please. Take it."

"No," Morgan pushed the wine back and glowered at his best friend, "You told me how you were sure it's a prank. I say you're just being paranoid. You're going."

"B-but… no. No. I'm not going," Reid pushed the wine bottle back and before Morgan spoke he grabbed his jacket and sped out of the bullpen like his life depended on it.

"What the hell man?" Morgan glared. "What the hell is his problem?"

Prentiss pinched the bridge of her nose, not sure who to be angry at or to feel sorry for. "Wouldn't you freak out if someone kept sending you gifts for the past few days, anonymously?"

"No way, if a girl started sending me gifts, I'd dig that," Morgan smiled slyly as he pictured a curvy, sexy, and sophisticated rich lady handing him keys to a new car as a gift. Not that he would accept the gift because he doesn't play like that. "He should take the stick out of his ass and-."

"Morgan, if you would please consider the seriousness of this situation," Hotch interrupted. "Did you forget what happened to Garcia? What if Reid is being targeted? We should consider this a serious security risk and keep Reid from harms way."

"Right," Prentiss nodded obediently, her large eyes set in determination. "I'll keep an eye on him and he'll stay home with me just to be safe."

Hotch nodded in agreement, "I'll ask Garcia to take the necessary steps and the rest of the team to be on high alert. There is a possibility of it being a prank or someone courting him but we can't be too careful."

Morgan clenched his jaw tightly because he still felt that this whole paranoid attitude the BAU harbored was going too far. Still, he couldn't deny the risks. "Agreed, but if it does turn out to be nothing and we actually scare off Reid's potential honey, then I'm going to make it my job to make things right."

* * *

The light breached through the thick curtains and illuminated the cozy living room. The door opened slowly and two figures entered the room. Emily flipped the switch and dropped a heavy duffel bag on her floor. "Welp, welcome to la casa de Prentiss."

"I've been here before Emily," Reid spoke in a monotone voice. He was still upset by having been dragged away from his apartment and have him surveillanced. Bloodhound indeed. It didn't take him long to feel guilty for addressing his friend in that catty tone. It brought back memories of how he treated her after Georgia. "I-I'm sorry, it's just… well…"

"No worries Reid," Prentiss winked at the doctor as she walked into her kitchen and started to prepare their dinner. "Make yourself at home, dump your stuff in the second room on the left. There's a bathroom across from it if you need it."

Reid sighed and obeyed his hostess without protest. It's a good thing her house wasn't all too big and there were plenty of things to distract to himself with. Trying the Jacuzzi for a bit wouldn't hurt his aching muscles and his brain, he thought.

After eating an amazing dinner in which they both cooked together the thought of a psycho roaming around town looking for Reid's hand in marriage dissipated. Prentiss was good at keeping Reid distracted, that is, until she brought up the subject.

"So…" She shifted in her coffee colored suede sofa. "Do you think our job turned us into a bunch of paranoid freaks?"

Reid sputtered in his drink. He hoped the apple juice didn't fall on her sofa, "Probably. As much as I enjoy your company, I feel that this is too much."

"You're right," Emily stretched out on her sofa and stared at the ceiling, "If Morgan was right and it is a," she paused for a second and smiled to herself, "a man who is trying to get it with you. It would be a waste. The man sure knows how to woo a person."

"He certainly didn't _woo me_," Reid settled his cup on the coffee table and focused on the carvings on the legs. His long fingers traced the edge of the cup slowly to distract his stomach from churning, "More like, made it obvious to Morgan and everyone else how desperately I need a romantic partner."

"It comes with the age," Emily raised her glass of white wine in the air and let the light from one of her lamps hit it. "My mom calls me everyday and asks me if I found a boyfriend already. I'm tempted to make up a fake relationship."

Reid chuckled, "My mom asks me the same question when I visit her. Even when she's having an episode she asks me. 'Spencer you haven't found a nice man yet? People don't know what they're missing. Such a shame.'"

Suddenly the living room was filled with sounds of their laughter. Each agent clutching at their stomachs desperately to make it stop. Reid hasn't laughed like that in ages and he felt that Prentiss was also in need of a good laugh.

"To everyone! Who will never butt out of our personal lives," Prentiss held her glass to the air and Reid followed suit.

He smiled back at her and said, "To everyone!"

* * *

A/N: Now everyone is in high alert! What is the purpose of the presents? What is Garcia really planning? Is there really a psycho who wants to put Reid in a wedding dress? Hmm… that sounds like an idea.

I want to thank the reviewers, those who fave'd, story alerted, author alerted, readers, and etc. You guys rock!


	6. At the Queue

AN: Hello my sweets. I so sorry for the delay :\ I promise I never forgot about you. So thank you for your patience and for taking your time following my (weirdo) story. I will like to thank Vampire Act for doing such an amazing job as my beta. You deserve a statue! Alright I'll leave it to you to read this chap. Enjoy :D

* * *

Garcia tapped away on her personal keyboard at her kitchen counter while humming a cheerful song with a steaming mug of sugary coffee sitting at a safe distance from her 'baby'. The plan seemed to be going smoothly now that Reid was in constant surveillance. As for the presents, she was pleased at how unexpected and a little tiny bit disturbing they ended up. "Excellent," she drummed her hands on pink porcelain. "Phase one completed."

* * *

Monday morning and the air seemed chillier than yesterday. You couldn't tell spring was approaching if it weren't for the budding cherry blossoms on the lawn of headquarters. Reid smiled into his scarf with the prospect of feeling the warm sun against his skin again.

The weekend went on without a hitch and Reid was allowed to go back to work on Monday. Being trapped in Emily's house, and Jacuzzi, was starting to get to the young genius. He was a little cross to see a couple of police cars parked on his street when Hotch ordered Reid to move back into his apartment. Well, Hotch knew what was best so there was no way to protest it.

Reid sighed when he saw a thick stack of manuscripts with a tiny yellow post-it note right on top of the light blue cover page. He snatched it up and read the neat and almost elegant cursive of one Dave Rossi.

"You get first dibs plus an espresso machine if you edit it. -Rossi"

"That's nice," Reid muttered softly into his scarf before he pulled it out of his neck in one fluid motion.

The espresso machine was plenty, Reid stated. Of course it was very kind of Rossi to let Reid lay first eyes on the manuscript so anything else the older man offered was too much for Reid's little heart to take. This certainly made up for the last terrible week.

Out of the blue his phone began to vibrate in his coat pocket. "This early?" He checked the screen with a quick glance and saw the sender's name light up. Reid opened the text.

Hey dude. Guess who's showing up DC on Thurs.

ES

This was a surprise. Ethan's typical texts consisted of, "U still a junkie?" or "Sorry that was stupid. Congratulations on your sobriety."

Always the jokester, his old friend/rival was. Reid knew, however silly Ethan was, he had his best interests at heart and was the only one other than Hotch- who would check in on Reid's 'past problem'. Reid texted back.

No. I don't know. Is it you?

SR

He sent the message and was quickly greeted with a response.

No it's not me. It's Blackburn. He's giving a lecture on Thurs. Go and say hi for me. I wish I can go but I'm doing a tour. L

ES

I'll try and make it then.

SR

Great! He was the best prof. Anyway, are you okay?

ES

Agreed. And yes, I'm doing well.

SR

Good. :D

ES

Reid spread a wide smile across his thin face at the thought of Ethan's predictability. Blackburn had been Ethan's hero since college, and it must hurt him not to be able to go and bask in his presence. Reid remembered how insanely amusing it was to observe Ethan's utter fan-like giddiness over the man. To his friend's credit, Reid was also inspired by the professor to join the FBI and to meet Gideon that same year. He guessed it would be fair to meet the man who set his life into motion.

"Did you finish reading?" Rossi interrupted Reid's thoughts, fully expecting a barrage of words and excitement hit him like a speeding train about Rossi's book. The older man raised his brow inquisitively at the lack of noise Reid was known for.

"No," Reid's smile turned downward. "I was distracted."

"What about, if you don't mind me asking?" Rossi asked and Reid scrunched up his eyes clearly a little taken aback by Rossi's curiosity. "What? I can't have a normal conversation with you?"

"I'm sorry," Reid turned his body towards his amused senior agent. "I just found out that my old professor Douglas Blackburn is doing a lecture on Thursday."

"Blackburn?" Rossi's charming east coast accent raised an octave. "That little punk? I haven't seen him in fifteen years."

"You know him?" Reid sat at the edge of his seat. He remembered how Gideon would sometimes spring up about his old acquaintances in random instances. Rossi had that same glint in his eyes whenever he would reminisce about the old days that he nicknamed 'the wilder days' when he could date anyone he wanted and do whatever he pleased.

"That man drove me crazy," Rossi raised an impressed brow down at the younger man. "He was your professor. Small world," he paused for a couple seconds. "I hope you can get someone to escort you to the lecture kid. You're on watch now."

Reid scooted back into his seat and tapped his fingers on his chin thoughtfully. "I'll ask Morgan."

Rossi chuckled that the thought of the possibility of Morgan accepting Reid's invitation cross the genius's mind. "Do you know any super models you can bribe him with?"

"No," Reid frowned into his fingers. Morgan would never agree to go to a lecture willingly, nor would Garcia and Prentiss. J.J. and Hotch had their families, and he felt guilty even considering taking their time away from their kids. He didn't know Lynch well enough to invite him. "How would you like to go with me? You could catch up to-"

"No," Rossi interrupted quickly. "Sorry kid, but I rather stick a burning fork through my tongue. That man and I don't see eye to eye."

"Oh," Reid thought back and could see why Rossi and his old professor didn't get along. Blackburn probably insulted Rossi unknowingly and the agent hasn't forgiven him since. That seemed to be the pattern of destruction his old professor had. "I'll go by myself. The admirer hasn't sent me anything since Friday so he might have given up and fled with the sight of the cop cars."

"You're going to have to go to mother," Rossi pointed a chubby finger towards one of the windows. The window revealed Hotch pacing the room while making a serious phone call to a higher up or maybe even the president for all he knew. "Good luck."

* * *

Why was he so nervous? Reid clenched the doorknob that belonged to Hotch's office door. It was a little intimidating; the way the black door was overpowering his vision. Mocking him that it was futile to even try to convince the all-powerful Hotch to lower Reid's security. 'Just try.' The door seemed to speak. 'I want to watch you dance.'

Reid gulped and willed himself to open the door with a pale clammy hand.

Hotch conveniently hung up the phone and a pleasantly surprised expression lit his face. He laced his fingers together and casually placed them on top of his paperwork, ready to give Reid all his undivided attention. Hotch welcomed Reid with a cool nod and a welcoming smile. Reid sighed in relief and felt silly to feel bullied by a stupid door.

"Hotch, I know this isn't the right time to ask for a favor but," he licked his lips nervously. His soft and boyish voice came out raspier than he would have liked. "My old professor from Cal Tech is coming to do a lecture Thursday evening, and I was hoping to attend. Is it possible that I can go by myself despite of what's been happening in the previous week?"

Hotch's warmth faded into concern. "I take it that Morgan and the rest of the team turned you down."

Reid shook his head. "I only bothered to ask Rossi."

Hotch quirked a thick black brow.

"He knows my professor. Um… Morgan and the others would never go to a lecture and let alone a lecture with me. They have their own things to do anyway," Reid gave him a half smile like the obviousness of it all just hit him.

"How about I go with you?" Hotch suggested coolly like it was nothing. Reid crossed his bad leg over the other and let his head prop up on the back of his hand. Did Hotch just say what I think he said?

"I'm sorry?"

"I wouldn't mind joining you," Hotch shrugged, undetached his hands from each other, and had one reach for the phone. "I'll call security and let them know."

"N-no," Reid sprung up from his chair and leaned over the light wooden desk. "You don't have to. I can go by myself. You can have someone else escort me um... Hotch," Reid panicked inwardly because A) Going on any event, big or small, with Hotch was considered a huge deal in his little world and B) Hotch volunteering was the most surprising thing he ever heard.

Hotch gave him a look that said, 'this is final.'

Reid stepped back and calmly sat back in his seat to try and collect himself. Hotch was already talking to whoever was head of Reid's surveillance team and in Reid's mind, it seemed like a mix of a nightmare and a dream.

Hotch finished his order quickly and hung up the phone. "Letting you go by yourself is too much of a risk," Hotch spoke sternly at the knowledge with that tone of voice would have the genius snap out his thoughts. "Besides, sending someone you're not familiar with would be troublesome. You would have no problem slipping from their watch, and I hate to admit it, you are capable of doing it just to prove yourself. You can see why it's important I go with you."

"Hotch," Reid thought of a reason but he decided it wasn't worth the effort. When Hotch made up his mind about something it was impossible to try and convince him otherwise. Hotch made a good impression as a mountain.

Reid sighed because he could as easily backed out and not go altogether. It was too late for that now and it would be a rude to cancel just because Hotch got out of his way to let Reid go to that stupid lecture. "Thank you Hotch," Reid stood up awkwardly and gave him an apologetic smile. "I'll make it up for you. I swear."

Hotch waved his hand to decline the offer, "No need. This would be good for you and take your mind off things. We need that brain to be full functioning."

"Right," Reid nodded and gave Hotch see you later wave. He closed the door from behind him and then stared out into the bullpen. Morgan and Prentiss looked up curiously from their stations like a couple of merekats and there was Rossi not too far behind the two with what looked like a smug smirk. Reid hoped he was imagining things.

**Thursday**

It was getting dark soon and the darker it got the more his stomach twisted over and over. So nervous. Why was he so nervous? This was ridiculous. Reid adjusted his favorite dark purple tie and stared at his reflection. "This is silly. This is-," he took off his tie and stared at his naked neck grimly. "I'm overreacting."

It's just a lecture. A late night lecture at a university, by his old professor his friend hero-worshiped and he happened to be going with his boss. Nothing more, nothing less.

….

Maybe I should wear those jeans instead, Reid thought and spun on his heels. He crossed his room to his closet and rummaged for those cursed jeans Garcia bought him. "There they are," Reid took the jeans out of his hanger and he felt relief wash over him. There they were, untouched since that last disastrous date he had weeks ago. Pristine and glorious.

Wait.

Reid slumped onto his bed that conveniently was a few feet behind him. The jeans were now splayed on the bed next to him, witness to the mini meltdown Reid was having. "Why is this happening?" Reid perched his face into his hands. He didn't quite know how to make of these feelings that were running up and down in his body. His mind couldn't quite make sense of it all. All but how insane he was reacting.

In the end Reid decided on his usual attire. A brown pin stripped blazer, navy button down, dark slacks, black pin stripped vest, purple tie, and his old black chucks. Good, Reid thought.

His phone vibrated in his pocket and he knew it was Hotch. "Hello?"

"I'm waiting outside your door."

Reid halted on whatever he was doing. "Um… why didn't you knock?"

"Jack said it wasn't cool to knock today. Thought I'd keep up with the trend," Hotch quipped. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," Reid rushed to grab his wallet and his keys. He was happy that his nervousness wasn't as intense as it was before Hotch called him. It was non-existent when he opened the door and saw Hotch standing there wearing a black long coat with his phone pressed against his hear. "You can hang up now."

Hotch smirked and years fell off his face. Something about that made Reid's stomach flip and his face burn. It was the image of off duty Hotch that was so alien but so playful that can butter up any living human who weren't psychopaths. "Right," Hotch hung up the phone. "Lets go."

They ended up getting there earlier than expected. There were five other people finding their seats in this giant auditorium. Reid took the time to enjoy the lack of bodies before they began swarming in for the famous professor. It would be any minute now when that would happen.

"So what did your professor teach?" Hotch was sitting next to Reid with a pamphlet he found on free events to do in the city.

"Criminology. I wouldn't have taken it if Ethan didn't drag me there. It was a morning class," Reid smiled wryly into his free coffee cup. "I figured it must have been interesting for Ethan to be excited about a morning class. He usually got up around eleven."

"Ethan was your rival, right? I remember now," Hotch tapped the pamphlet on his knee.

"He thinks it's funny calling us frienemies," Reid softly said. "Truthfully, if it wasn't for Ethan and Blackburn I wouldn't be where I am today. I owe them a lot and I hope one day I can pay them back."

"I think all the hard work you put in is more then plenty," Hotch patted Reid's shoulder reassuringly. Reid could feel his ears burn at the kind words flowing freely from Hotch's mouth. The butterflies in his stomach returned with full force so Reid got up with the excuse of another cup of coffee. "Do you want a cup too?" He asked. Hotch politely declined and Reid went on his way.

Reid stood in the now growing queue for the coffee and free treats. The crowds were starting to show as he expected. This was good for him, so he could temporarily lose himself within the queue and forget about fleeing from Hotch's genuine compliments like a frightened deer. God, why couldn't he have just the same social graces as Ethan? Why was he the socially awkward genius and not him?

"Bloody hell," a striking familiar voice rang in Reid's ear. Why now? Why here? Reid turned around and his heart sank. Nick was a couple of people behind him bouncing up and down like a two year old in the line. He was getting ready to cut it to get to Reid. _This can't be happening, _Reid thought over and over until the man finally reached him. "Spencer! You came to see our old professor too I see." Nick grinned youthfully, his eyes crinkled at the shear coincidence and clearly happy to see his ex.

"Y-yes. I-I erhm," Reid glanced to where Hotch was sitting and he was overjoyed that the man was busy reading the pamphlet. "I'm guessing you're here to say hi too."

"Right, I am," Nick dipped his hands in his pockets to try and control his excitement. Despite the circumstances it was a little flattering to have an ex jumping for joy to see you, Reid observed. "So are you here with anybody?"

Reid repressed the frown that wanted to escape from his lips. "Yes I'm here with my boss. He's sitting in the front."

"Ah, good," Nick stretched his neck curiously. "The man with the short dark hair? He must be the head of the BAU then am I right? That's where you're working if I remember correctly."

Reid nodded silently. The only thing he can do -other than hide under the table and die- was to just carry on as normal, and hopefully Hotch wouldn't find out about his ex. Not like that was very likely, Nick wasn't as rash and- oh there he goes.

Nick abandoned his spot on the queue and the coffee and headed towards Hotch who was unaware of the utter hell Reid's has been suffering.

"Excuse me," Nick stretched his hand out to Hotch and his lips curled into a stupid cheeky smile. Hotch snapped his head up from the pamphlet and stared curiously at the man looming over him, who was clearly not afraid of personal boundaries, he noted. "Hi, I'm Nick, Spencer's old… friend. It's very nice to meet you."

"Yes hello," Hotch shook the odd British man's hand carefully, eyeing Reid who was standing nervously behind him with shifting eyes. "I'm Aaron Hotchner. Would you care to join us?"

Nick's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree, and in no time he was sitting next to Reid and began yammering about how cool the BAU was. Reid felt his world tilting like a carnival ride. To his right Nick was besides himself at the thought of joining two official G-men, and to his left was Hotch curiously looking at Reid like he had something stuck between his teeth.

_This isn't happening…_


	7. The Grouch and The Brit

**AN: Hiya! Warning, OFC heavy but actually Hotch and Reid-centric. Enjoy!**

**

* * *

**

The speech was incredible, more than incredible! Enthusiasm poured out of this man, the man Reid and Nick called Blackburn. He was as tall as Reid, possibly taller, towering at his podium and speaking steadily, brightly, jubilantly about his previous work in the FBI. He spoke with a mixed accent- not quite American but not quite British-. It was possibly just an upper-class upbringing resulted in the strange dialect, which was strong but soothing, prattling on like an old friend.

Hotch was intrigued and absolutely not bored.

He was also curious about the other man who sat besides Reid. He was so comfortable as he was poking, softly brushing shoulders with him, giggling once or twice. Nick was a nice man, no doubt about it. The air around him was kind and youthful but with hints of hidden wisdom. If someone looked closer, he was the complete opposite of Reid, who was serious with brown eyes intensely burrowing at everything he saw; his thoughts, words, symbols forever whirring in his head like a shaken snow globe. Right now, however, he was a little on edge. He had been since Nick ran towards Hotch like a bullet train.

There was more to be examined, Hotch thought, who had been sneaking glances until Nick snapped his head to the side and caught Hotch's eyes. Luckily for Hotch, Nick just smiled kindly and returned his focus on the tall man talking about bombers and tracking devices.

Jesus Christ, was this man James Bond? Hotch mused to himself once his attention was diverted where it should be.

"-that's when I found Agent Rossi splayed out on the floor, dazed and out of his mind. We never let him near the lab after that incident." Blackburn shook his short dark hair in amused disapproval. "Surely, most of you know the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide. Back then, we clearly underestimated such a drug."

Hotch chuckled under his breath. He was going to have to ask Rossi about what kind of trip he was going through. This was certainly a bonus treat.

A loud snort. Hotch turned and found Reid shaking his shoulders, trembling with laughter as he pressed his hands up to his unusually and constantly pink lips. Reid was desperate to hide the bellowing laughter that wanted to escape, so desperate that he was turning a peculiar shade of red. Light Brown, almost hazel eyes met darker ones, but only slightly darker. Great, now they both have the church giggles. Nobody noticed except for the Brit.

After the speech, Reid was back to normal. He must have calmed a bit enough to laugh and smile at his old friend. It made Hotch's chest pang slightly, making him feel rather silly by feeling so discernibly jealous.

"You know Agent Rossi?" Nick then snickered into his sleeve. "Does he always drop acid?"

"Just the occasional brandy or wine," Reid said thoughtfully, probably imagining the way Rossi might have looked right now if he was on a trip. Hotch certainly was.

"Ah, Nicolas," a mixed-matched accent floated from behind Hotch's back. The man swooped down on the Brit and gave him a long passionate kiss. Reid dropped his coat on the floor, gaping at the two canoodling like two long lost lovers who found each other after a war. Hotch tried to be more discreet.

After a minute or so of, as Nick would have said, snogging, the two tore themselves apart. Blackburn settled back like he just hadn't tried to eat Nick's face off and ignored the shocked gaping genius. "And Spencer Reid. You've actually skinnier than the last time I saw you. Been using all of your books as nutrients, I see."

"Hello professor," Reid fumbled out a nervous laugh, completely ignoring his coat on the ground. "Amazing speech, j-just like I remembered them."

"Thank you," Blackburn quirked a smile as the Brit bent down to retrieve Spencer's coat. "And Nicolas, glad you made it tonight with out any cuts and bruises."

Nick smiled sheepishly, "Actually," he stole a glance from Reid, "I caught my hand on the car door."

"I see," Blackburn uncurled a satisfied smirk. Minutes ago he was bounding with energy and now the man transformed into a smug and polished man. Not so much James Bond and more like a villain. "And Ethan couldn't make an appearance, I see."

Reid shook his head, "He's in New Orleans. He told me to send his regards."

"Hmm… well., the three of you were always together. It feels odd that one of you is missing," Blackburn scratched his chin, his voice sarcastic and dry. If it weren't for the amazing speech Blackburn poured from his being earlier, right now Hotch would be wondering why Nick and Reid worshiped the man; why Reid was so set on coming enough to risk his own safety, and why Rossi encouraged him.

"Hello," Hotch reached out his hand towards the professor. The professor looked him coolly and calm, one thick black brow arching upwards. "I'm Aaron Hotchner. I'm a friend of Rossi's."

"Aaron Hotchner," Blackburn returned the handshake. Two sets of youthful eyes sprang towards the gesture- one of the pair of light brown, shocked at the contact Hotch and Blackburn made, two worlds colliding into one. "I hear your name being thrown around everywhere I go. I feel as if I know you already."

"Likewise," Hotch reiterated.

"So, how about we go for a round a drinks? There is a bar not too far off, and I want to hear what all you three have been up to. My treat," Blackburn quirked a smile again as he placed his hand onto Nick's back.

"A round from Douglas! This I can't bloody believe," Nick rushed to grab his coat lazily strewn on his seat. "Spencer and Mr. Hotchner, are you coming with? I'm not passing this up. No way."

"Sure," Hotch accepted the invitation. He could feel Reid tense up besides him but didn't say a word. Hotch wondered if he should decline, but curiosity got the better of him. It was an opportunity he couldn't pass up if it meant he'd hear stories Reid's old college days. It was the genius's fault, since he rarely divulged anything from his past, and surely a pint would put him in good spirits. This was normal and Reid needed some normalcy in his life. So a bar. Yes. That would do.

**

* * *

**

The bar was a little posh, but any regular Joe could perch himself on the stools by himself or with men named David or Brad or Jim as they downed a few beers and chased them with more beer. In the corner, a white collar lawyer sat by himself as one set of fingers flied over his smart phone and the other gently swishing a glass of wine.

So a young genius, a professor nicknamed Oscar the Grouch, a happy-go-lucky Brit, and an off duty FBI agent didn't seem so out of place.

"Alright," Blackburn gracefully sat himself on the end of the booth. The air of the bar, so warm that it seemed to radiate through their bodies. "How is David doing, Mr. Hotchner?"

"Fine," Hotch turned his attention to the waitress and ordered a soda to start his new role as 'DD'. "Still as smug and brilliant as ever. And please, call me Aaron."

Blackburn grinned slyly, "How many divorces has he wrangled himself up this time?"

Hotch snorted, "I think it's four. I'm not to sure, though; I lost count after Martha."

"Martha was a smart, young beauty. Such a shame."

"Right, I will tell you he's now married to his work, per say. I'm sure Dave realized that he couldn't afford another divorce right now."

"Ha!" Blackburn spread a complacent smirk. "Indeed."

Reid and Nick sat across from each other. both observing the two older men sharing-not gossiping- stories about Rossi. Who knew the man was such a unifying force?

"I think they enjoy taking a piss at this Rossi guy." Nick thanked the waitress after he received his pint of beer. "Is he terrible to work with?"

"No. He's just…"

"Cheeky?"

"Yes. That," Reid smiled warmly, "only when he wants to be. He's really nice to me."

"That's good," Nick patted Reid's shoulder. The contact was familiar and comforting.

After the story about how Rossi met his second wife while he was seeing his future third wife, Nick was acting a little restless. He twirled a quarter in his fingers skillfully. The young genius noticed the familiar nervous tick. Sometimes he'd tap at the table with it, sometimes he twirled it nonstop. Right now he was doing a combination of both.

"Are you okay?" Reid asked, his worry lines more pronounced. Nick flashed his best shit eating grin, but that was enough for Reid to understand.

"Excuse me gentlemen," Nick got up from his seat, a thin hand gently guiding a thin forearm to go get up with him. "I'm gasping for a smoke. Do you mind if I borrow Spencer for a bit? Don't want to be alone this late in the day and get mugged by some lunatic."

"Sure," Hotch said.

After the two left, Blackburn chuckled at their backs. "Guess they wanted to catch up a little. Shame, I have so many more Rossi stories to tell."

* * *

Nick took out a cigarette and huffed into the night sky. The smoke danced almost elegantly and Reid would have enjoyed the pleasing visual if it weren't for the fact that Nick was actually killing himself at the same time. Nick knew Reid hated smokers but they weren't going out anymore. Besides, he really needed a drag right now. That's why he was fidgeting; his cravings got the better of him.

"Don't start with the statistics please," Nick smiled off into the distance. "I really needed this. Douglas gives me enough grief."

"I wasn't." Reid felt a little offended and he crossed his arms. "And…. You and Blackburn?"

"Yes, me and the pain in the ass Blackburn. Why is it such a surprise to you?" Nick took another drag and breathed out. He relaxed heavily onto the brick wall behind him. The chemicals were obviously working their magic on him.

"It's well… he…" Reid bit his lips as he remembered the kiss between them from an hour ago. He couldn't deny his jealousy-the utter pang at the bottom of his stomach when the two unabashedly shared at passionate kiss in from of the entire population of the university criminology department. He wish he had that in a way. Well, something not as brazen, of course, because he wasn't the type to flaunt his feelings like that.

"Congratulations," the genius finally said, ignoring the return of the green-eyed-monster who gently scratched from inside him.

Nick grinned as he puffed out a ring of smoke. "Thank you. He maybe an arse sometimes, but we work. I'm happy now."

"I'm glad." He was now, but he also felt guilty for being so jealous in the first place. Nick found someone, and he deserved a that connection he always wanted.

Nick continued to suck on the cigarette. "So, how long have you two been getting on?"

"What?" Reid's voice raised octave. "What are you talking about?"

"Getting on. Shagging. Sexual intercourse."

Reid felt his entire face burn as he ducked his head into his shoulders. "Nick," he warned.

"You're both quite cute together," Nick chuckled. "I'm kidding. I just wanted to get a rise from you, but," Nick paused as stared down across the street into the vintage store's window display, "when are you going to confess to your boss that you're not only gay but you fancy him?"

"I don't think I ever will," Reid leaned against the brick wall. "Things are… complicated."

"With you, maybe," Nick walked up to face Reid and let out a deep and long suffering sigh, concern written on his handsome face. "Things are only complicated if you make them to be. Remember? When you freaked out about coming out to your mum?" The Brit grinned at the memory.

"Your mum was happy and you worried about absolutely nothing. A lot of wasted energy you spent worrying. And still do," Nick placed a kind hand on Reid's shoulder. "Oh, and sorry about outing you to your friends that time in the café. I didn't mean to…"

"I know," Reid feigned a glared at his ex. "Just don't out me to my boss, okay?"

"What's the difference, Your friends and your boss? Is it because you fancy the pants out of Mr. Aaron Hotchner?" Nick danced a little, mocking Reid as he swayed back and forth. "He seems like a decent enough guy. When you're ready you should tell him. Only when you're ready, of course."

Reid sighed. He wished this conversation would just end. His ex was too curious for his own damn good. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Kind of," Nick flicked the cigarette onto the gutter below. "I just feel really bad for outing you. I just… I know how terrible it feels, and you should have done it yourself when you were ready. Nobody should be forced, and I was a git. I'm sorry."

It was Reid's turn to pat Nick on the shoulder. "I forgive you."

Both were ready to walk inside, but a young boy with a red wool beanie-about age twelve- approached the two with a letter. "This guy told me to give you this," he handed the letter to Reid. "Said it was important."

The two men looked at each other incredulously then back at the pale blue letter with fancy calligraphy skillfully written on the top.

* * *

Back inside the bar Hotch peered across the room and wondered when the two younger men would come back from Nick's cigarette break.

Blackburn was sat across Hotch, second beer in hand. "Do you want to hear why I chose Spencer over Ethan to send away to the BAU?" Blackburn interrupted Hotch's thoughts. He was getting bored at the dull silence between them, and he was set on enjoying the night, thank you very much. Silence was usually bad and should be stopped at all times, always.

Hotch snapped his eyes back at the man. This was why he came to the bar in the first place- stories about Reid. The fact that he was eager to hear him caused him to worry somewhat. Why was he so eager in the first place?

"I heard Ethan is just as smart as Reid but… he dropped out in the academy the first day," Hotch said as he took a drink out of his soda.

"I was the reason why, and it surprised even Gideon to say the least," Blackburn quirked a smile to himself. He wasn't kidding. "No offense to Spencer Reid but… Ethan was obviously more qualified as an agent-at least I thought so before," He sighed dramatically, "How I hate being wrong."

Blackburn continued, "I wasn't really choosing between the two but… I knew that if I recommended one of them, then they'd surely get the upper hand they needed to enter the BAU. As we both know, it takes an arm and a leg to just get your foot in the door. So my recommendations are like a golden ticket, and the fact Gideon trusted my judgment completely had something to do with that."

"So what changed your mind?"

"Let me tell you something about Ethan first. He was my favorite for a reason," Blackburn picked up his beer bottle. "He was beyond a perfect candidate. A genius, athletic, sociable, and fearless. Spencer only had genius going for him… again…. No offence."

Hotch's face was stony at the last few words. Hearing Reid's character being insulted and compared was painful, and he wanted to shove the beer bottle down Blackburn's mouth. The man was smirking at the Unit Chief, however, and his dark eyes glinted in amusement as he saw through the façade.

"I remember that day," Blackburn remembered fondly, "I had given Ethan my recommendation the moment Gideon called. It was a heart beat decision and I felt pretty satisfied with my choice. I knew Ethan would make me proud, no doubt about it. Then…"

_Blackburn hung up the phone and smiled curtly to himself. Gideon would have a talk with Ethan soon, and the star pupil would be set to become the next best thing the BAU had ever laid eyes on. Pride ran through his veins; it was like giving his own child away at a marriage ceremony. It was indeed a great day for the FBI. Now, he was ready to get home and finish the day with a glass of celebratory brandy and a good book to wind down on._

_As he flicked the lights off in his office, he noticed a lone figure sitting down on the ground with a book propped on his lap. Oh, it's that Spencer boy, Blackburn mumbled to himself. He was bright alright. Bright but too… innocent. The man would say down right adorable if it didn't make him sound like a pedophile._

_"Shouldn't you be getting ready to head on over to the academy next week?" Blackburn towered over the young man, irritated by just his presence. What a joke, he wont make it the first day. Reid looked up blankly, like his own company was nothing all that to fuss over._

_"I'm waiting for Professor Gunter. He's consulting someone right now," Reid smiled slightly up at Blackburn. The professor rolled his eyes, hoping that the young man knew what exactly Professor Gunter was doing behind that door of his….something surely unsanitary._

_"Consulting, indeed," Blackburn mumbled under his breath. Reid blinked inquiringly, so very puppy like that it made the older man sick. Oh for pete's sake! How can this… walking broomstick ever manage to hope for a position at the BAU? This reinforced what he already believed about his earlier choice. Reid was just a foolish dreamer and his friend will forget about him as he should to succeed._

_He had to know why the walking broomstick could ever think to join the ranks of the BAU. He had to know before it ate him alive. "Spencer… why… exactly… do you want to join the BAU?"_

_Reid placed his book on the ground and stood up awkwardly, long limbs making it doubly hard to make the genius appear graceful. What was surprising was how serious Reid looked once he settled into the standing position. His eyes were ambitious and stern, and there was a hidden strength and power behind those eyes that Blackburn would never have envisaged._

_"I just want to know why people do the things they do. I want to know why people hurt other people," Reid bit his lip, a flash of sadness on his face appeared for a fraction of a second. Blackburn knew that look. "I want to stop them from hurting other people- people who can't protect themselves…"_

_Surprising indeed. Blackburn smiled involuntarily at the young man and nodded politely. "That is a very nice answer, my boy."_

_Reid's ears blushed lightly, and he was back to that shy awkward kid Blackburn recognized bu twas not sorry to see again. "Give my regards to Gunter will you? I'm sure he'll be finished in a few minutes."_

_That night Blackburn sat on his kitchen table looking over a few files. Ethan and Spencer… both geniuses. Ethan was athletic, sociable, and fearless. He picked up the phone and called said young man._

_"Hello?" Ethan answered._

_"Ethan this is Blackburn. Answer me this question: why do you want to join the BAU?"_

_Ethan was silent for only twelve seconds and answered that he wanted to work with the smartest people and described how he wanted to catch the bad guys. It would have been an acceptable answer if it weren't for the twelve seconds of silence. Those twelve seconds were enough to make Blackburn realize how stupid he was, stupid for not asking them both the question a long time ago. What an incredibly stupid thing he did. He was going to have to call Gideon again._

Hotch wasn't surprised. He'd been surprised enough by Reid alone, so hearing Blackburn's realization wasn't anything new. But he smiled victoriously, all because he felt that he himself had won that day. Had won a fight he never knew had been fought. How painfully close he was to the possibility of never having Reid in his team, standing right next to him as he prattled on about statistics and facts. How important Reid meant to everyone, and to himself. The thought of not having those moments were frightening to him and wrenching his heart.

Blackburn smiled after he took another swig, eyeing Hotch closely as the unit chief let his feelings sink in.

"Hotch!" Reid shouted from across the room. The Unit Chief perked up his head and saw the younger man rushing over holding a letter in the air.

"What is it, Reid?"

"A-A letter!" Reid finally reached the table and planted the opened letter on the table. "We have to go after Nick! Nick, he-he read it then went running down the street… I-I… we have to go after him!"

Blackburn snapped the letter and quickly read it. "He's heading down the Hilton; that's…"

"Eight blocks away," Reid's eyes shot open. "Hotch, the admirer is waiting for me there, and Nick just-"

"Fuck!" Blackburn shot out his seat and fled right after Nick. Hotch and Reid followed after.

* * *

His heart was pounding against his chest. How could Nick be so impulsive? He could have returned back to the bar, and then the group would have had time to get to their cars and drive over to the Hilton. Not only would that have been easier but also much more safe. Damn Nick. Damn his impulsive nature, Reid thought as they were getting closer to the hotel. He hoped Blackburn had made it in time.

Minutes passed, and they were at the hotel, but there were no sign of Blackburn nor Nick. Hotch asked a bell hop if he saw any signs of the two, but he shook his head. This night was getting worse by the second.

Suddenly, a sharp yell came from an ally nearby and the two agents made a B-line straight for it. It didn't sound like the two they were chasing after, but right now it was worth it just to investigate.

"Please stop!" The same voice screamed. "I-I didn't mean anything by it, I promise!" The average looking man chocked out sobs. The man desperately begged as he was being held up by his collar by Blackburn. Hotch jumped into action and pried the other man away with force. Blackburn protested and squirmed, but Hotch was in his Unit Chief mode and had talked him down into a calmer state.

Nick was sitting on the ground, back pressed against the wall as he dizzily swayed his head slightly. Reid checked for any injuries and could only find a small cut on the man's hand and a contusion inches above his right ear. His head was bleeding profusely, blood dripping down his scarf.

"How man fingers am I holding?" Reid held up two fingers. Nick lazily grinned and said, "Orange."

Then Blackburn lunged after the admirer and Hotch had to stop him once more.

* * *

His bottom was soar. Reid flickered his eyes open and was now bombarded with noises of people moving about. A loud distorted voice of a woman speaking through the intercom. Flashes of pastel pink and blue appeared and disappeared. One in particular with a long white coat was standing right in front of Hotch, talking.

Reid couldn't remember when exactly had he fallen asleep, or when exactly had he rested his head on Hotch's shoulder, but it felt nice. His warm cheek against the older man's shoulder and the smell that was distinctly Hotch's filled his nostrils. This night wouldn't be so bad except for the fact that his ex-boyfriend had a concussion and that his ex-boyfriend's current boyfriend was making all the nurses miserable in every waking moment.

Still, Hotch was here and was being the most perfect pillow Reid had ever rested on.

After the doctor briefed Hotch on Nick's condition, they were left alone again. Hotch didn't have to repeat what the doctor had said because he knew Reid was awake and had overheard. He did anyway.

"Nick is going to be fine," Hotch said, feeling Reid rise his head from its resting place and rubbing his tired eyes.

"Is he going to stay over night?" Reid yawned widely. There was something so endearing about it that Hotch couldn't help but to capture that image and store it away in his brain.

"Yes, and they finally had allowed Blackburn stay with him," Hotch shook his head in disbelief. "The man even pulled some strings. I think he might even called the president."

They both laughed, knowing that it was a joke even if there was the large possibility that it wasn't.

"And the admirer?"

"He's fine. Poor guy- I almost feel sorry for him," Hotch chuckled at the thought. "Good thing Nick said that he accidentally fell and hit his head while chasing him. The admirer was kind enough to run back and help Nick when he noticed. That's when Blackburn appeared, and he came to a different conclusion."

"Oh," Reid pressed his pink lips into a thin and wide line. "Who knew I had a helpful stalker?"

"Don't worry, he's harmless," Hotch patted Reid's knee lightly. "He promised not to send you anything anymore as long as they kept Blackburn away from him."

"Good," Reid quirked a smile. "I think this night deserves a title at how… epic it turned out. Epic, right? That's what Garcia would say."

Hotch nodded as he rubbed his own eyes. What time was it anyway? "Right."

Reid shifted in his seat as the image of Blackburn fretting over Nick came rushing back to his head; then the conversation they had before the Brit went chasing the admirer like a madman; how they both lived with their hearts on their sleeves. They were perfect for each other, and the envy easily rushed back from the bottom of his feet up to the tip of his head. Not because they were together but how open they both were about who they are, something he long forgot back in Cal Tech.

'Only when you're ready, of course.'

Right…

"Hotch?" Reid clenched and unclenched his hand that he had propped on his good knee. His heart was beating in his ears, his face painted in a pallet of light pinks and reds. "Hotch… I have to tell you something."

Hotch turned to him, all of his attention focused on Reid though it seemed like he was paying more attention to the hospital staff dashing around them. "What is it?"

"Nick… he's… my ex-boyfriend," Reid said as calmly and as clearly as he could manage so to make sure Hotch could hear him properly. He wasn't sure if he would be able to repeat it again if Hotch misheard.

The younger man squirmed and took a huge and big deep breath as he waited for a response. He had done this before- he had- and whoever said coming out got easier and easier was crazy because that was far from the truth. Everybody took it differently, and the anxiety before and after the big reveal was like having all the gravity suddenly push down on you. God, he hated this.

"That's nice," Hotch smiled and patted Reid's knee lightly again. "He's really nice. A little impulsive, but nice. Now I hope your next boyfriend has a steadier head on his shoulders."

"Er… um…" Reid was in an internal battle on whether he should jump up and down in pure joy or to stare blankly, dazed and confused. "Okay… I'll make sure."

"Is that a promise?" Hotch's smile graduated into an artful grin. Something in Reid's chest swelled up pleasantly at the sight.

"Um… sure…"

"Good."

Aaron Hotchner then, finally, kissed Spencer Reid for the first time.

All the nurses applauded.

* * *

**AN: Nom nom nom nom nom. Haha sorry this took so long (omg I say this a lot don't I?) I think the next chapter is the last one. :3 I felt bad for postponing this because I hate leaving things unfinished and I am attached to the two characters. So yes, I have swamped myself with projects and I should learn to how to do this time management thing. Whatever that is.**

**PS I want also thank those who have read Flowers in the Office. I haven't officially thanked you before but here I'm doing it right now. And I want to thank VanessaS. Quest and CMAli for giving me the opportunity to write angst and putting up with me. You all are so much better than I am lol. Last but not least I want to thank the-vampire-act for being my wonderful beta and being patient with my delays.**

**More PS! Please stay tuned for the sequel of Flowers in the Office. Angst ahoy!**


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